By Kevin Eigelbach
NKyTribune reporter
Most of us take it for granted that we’ll have a bed to sleep in tonight, but that’s not the case for many children in Northern Kentucky.
With its Build A Dream Northern Kentucky project, the Safety Net Alliance of Northern Kentucky wants to give those children a comfortable place to lay their heads.
In 2016, its first year, more than 90 project volunteers built 50 beds in 50 minutes.
Those beds were delivered to children ages three to 18 who were doubled up with other family members, who slept on air mattresses, or just slept on blankets on the floor, said Lauren Copeland, senior coordinator for the Brighton Center Inc. in Newport. She’s also a member of the Safety Net Alliance’s Furniture Task Force, which coordinates the Build A Dream project.
In 2017, the project volunteers built 100 beds, then 100 more in March of this year. On Nov. 16 and 17, attendees of the International Conference on Missions, which meets that weekend at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, plans to partner with the project to build 100 more beds, Copeland said.
The Conference plans to raise the funds needed to buy the raw materials, Copeland said. On average, materials for a bed cost $130 apiece. They are traditional twin-sized beds, she said, and they come with a new mattress, pillows, sheets, a comforter, a nightlight and a book.
About one-in-three children in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties live below the federal poverty level. Social services providers have long identified the lack of beds and furniture as a problem for individuals trying to stabilize their families and make them self-sufficient.
To do well in school, kids need energy, the ability to focus, the ability to retain information and clear heads to solve problems. All those skills depend on healthy, consistent sleep.
“We know how important a good night’s sleep is for children,” Copeland said.
The Safety Net Alliance of Northern Kentucky is a group of 130 local agencies that help families in need. Its Furniture Task Force was formed in 2014, and tried several initiatives to help provide beds to children before it learned about Morehead State University’s build-a-bed program, and modeled Build a Dream Northern Kentucky on it.
Donations to Build A Dream Northern Kentucky may be made to the Brighton Center, Attention: Build A Dream, Box 325, Newport, KY 41072.
Contact the Northern Kentucky Tribune at news@nkytrib.com
