BILLINGS — Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a nationwide, volunteer driven nonprofit that builds and delivers beds to kids in need, and now the program has made its was to Billings.
Katelyn and Adam Potts moved to Billings to be closer to family last year after completing their time in service for the U.S. Army. When they arrived in town, Katelyn Potts went to Sleep in Heavenly Peace's website to see if there was a chapter she could join.
There wasn't a local chapter, so she started her own last month.
“The estimate is 3% nationwide of kids sleep on the floor, so that's either a mattress on the floor, the floor itself, a couch, whatever it may be,” Katelyn Potts said. “It definitely is needed here. It's needed everywhere, but it's needed here.”
Their goal is to build and deliver fully furnished beds to kids in our community that don't have one.
“I know there's a lot of good nonprofits out there that do a lot of things, but there's plenty of kids in our community that I know are sleeping without beds,” Adam Potts said. "She (Katelyn) approached me as something she wanted to get started. So as a good husband and a supporter of her, I said yes. And as soon as we started getting involved, I was excited about it."
Before they can start building, they need the communities help.
"The whole goal of it is to get as much community members involved as possible. We want as many hands on that bed and impacting that child's story because that helps people build their story, the Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and that helps get the word around as to who we are and what we do," Katelyn Potts said. "You can either do a donation, request to volunteer with us, or partner with us. So we would partner with different organizations, depending on how many beds they want to sponsor. We would bring all of our tools and equipment to that bed build."
They will accept donations of new bedding or handmade quilts to furnish the beds.
"Sometimes we hear stories about a child being sixteen and that's their very first bed. It's just mind blowing. It's not something you think about on a day to day basis. It's something I think about all the time now. But it's not something people just think about," Katelyn Potts said. "I would say every child deserves a good night's sleep. And they need it. It helps them get through the school day. It helps them get through. Maybe there's some rough things going on at home. But being able to have a good night's rest, it all starts at home."
To get involved with the Billings chapter of Sleep in Heavenly click here.
“We want to get Billings involved to help get the children of Billings off the floor,” Katelyn Potts said.
