Local kids get a fresh spot to rest their heads
Albuquerque nonprofit donates beds and bedding to 100 children in need
Think back to life as a child. Remember how comforting the feeling of nestling into your own bed was back then?
For hundreds of children in New Mexico, though, the floor or, perhaps, a couch is where they rest their heads each night.
The three children of Sarah Swayne of Albuquerque, for example, sleep on tiny, child-sized sofas.
The single mother in her early 20s said it’s been hard to find the resources to buy beds for Carlos, Santos and Nadya.
“I’ve been homeless here and there. We just got our apartment, so we’re getting back on our feet,” she said, tears welling in her eyes.
Thanks to Albuquerque nonprofit Beds4Kidz, the children won’t be sleeping on sofas for much longer.
On Saturday, Swayne was one of many who attended the Beds4Kidz bed drive at Balloon Fiesta Park, where 100 free new beds and bedding were distributed to needy children.
“As unimaginable as it may be, the fact that it is a place to sleep and a comfortable place to sleep is something many of these kids have never had before,” said Monique Jacobson, secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, as children browsed among the rows of twin-sized beds behind her, often flopping down happily onto the one they chose.
The beds were donated by Albuquerque architecture and drafting firm Adwelling Design and distributed by Beds4Kidz.
Adwelling also collected donations to cover the costs of bedding and pillows.
Jacobson said 30 children in the CYFD system received beds at Saturday’s event.
The other 70 children were
referred by other social service agencies or through Beds4Kidz.
In addition to providing the basic need of a comfortable place to sleep, the kids got to show a little bit of their personality; the brightly-colored bedding was decorated with everything from sharks to hearts to trucks to horses.
The most popular? Animated Minion-adorned sheets, pillow cases and comforters.
“I love when our girls, girls who are in custody who have maybe gone through rough stuff, when they get to just be little girls and little princesses,” Jacobson said.
Beds4Kidz was founded by Steve Stucker, a well-known weatherman on KOB TV, around three years ago.
After helping connect a needy family with a bed through Facebook in what he thought was a one-off, Stucker said the need for beds became clear.
“The next thing I know, my three-car garage is filled with other people’s beds and my wife is threatening divorce,” he said, laughing.
After Saturday’s event, Stucker said his organization has helped find beds for 3,000 people.
He said the organization helps those from across the spectrum: single mothers, families who have lost homes in fires or are dealing with catastrophic illnesses.
“There’s no end in sight,” Stucker said.