Niagara Falls Schools Launch Partnership to Provide Beds for Children in Need

Screenshot from WKBW

The Niagara Falls City School District has joined forces with the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace to make sure local children have a proper place to sleep. Officials announced the initiative on Wednesday, describing it as a vital step toward meeting the needs of the community’s most vulnerable students.

Superintendent Mark Laurrie underscored the seriousness of the problem facing the district

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“The need for bedding and a good night’s sleep for our kids is one of the basic needs that everyone needs to have a functional productive day,” Laurrie said. “Knowing that we have about 400 homeless children in the district, and others that are sleeping on couches and pallets, it’s just not right.”

Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a volunteer-driven organization, has been active in Western New York for several years. The Buffalo chapter alone has built and delivered more than 6,200 beds since its start, each at a cost of roughly $300. The beds are provided to children at no charge.

Chapter president Jerry Sheldon said the program is about much more than furniture.

“This is more than just a bed, this is very important to these children, and quite frankly, it’s very important to the adults that are volunteering,” Sheldon explained. “We’ve given purpose, fellowship, friendship to a lot of folks who made this a big part of their lives, and that’s the reason why we’re so successful.”

Community members are encouraged to contribute to the cause. Support can come in the form of financial donations, new bedding items such as sheets, pillows, and mattress pads, or volunteering to help build and deliver beds. Donations of bedding can be dropped off at Bloneva Bond Elementary School in Niagara Falls.

The new partnership has already received significant support. Laurrie noted that an anonymous donor contributed $10,000, while John Cousins, who heads the Tallahassee chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, pledged another $10,000 during Wednesday’s announcement. Cousins shared the stark realities that many children face:

“The stories that we have about these kids, not just that they don’t sleep in a bed, they’re sleeping on a couch, floor, sometimes they’re sleeping on their own clothes or baby pallets,” he said. “I didn’t even know what a baby pallet was - it’s a changing pad. That’s what kids are sleeping on.”

For additional details about Sleep in Heavenly Peace or to request a bed for a child, families can visit the organization’s website: https://shpbeds.org/chapter/ny-buffalo/

Those interested in volunteering can reach out by email at kevin.burgess@shpdbeds.org jamie.schmidt@shp.or).

Niagara Falls Schools Launch Partnership to Provide Beds for Children in Need