No child should go to sleep without a bed.
Ed and Lorie Hacker were struck by the simplicity of the statement. The Franklin couple had found out about a nonprofit organization called Sleep in Heavenly Peace, which focused its entire being on that mission.
They were compelled to bring the idea to central Indiana.
“We were watching TV and saw some information about it. It tugged at our heartstrings pretty hard,” Ed Hacker said. “It took us a while to get it going, but we did.”
Since founding a Martinsville-based chapter in 2021, the Hackers and others in the local Sleep in Heavenly Peace group have built about 300 beds. They have planned dozens of construction events, as supporters have come together to put together twin beds for kids in need.
On Aug. 12, volunteers met at Lowe’s Home Improvement in Franklin to assemble 20 beds to be distributed around the area. They drilled holes, inserted screws, sanded down lumber and more as the project progressed throughout the morning.
In the end, all of it comes down to helping children live better lives.
“There’s nothing like seeing a little one come in the room, and they’re ear-to-ear excited and jumping around. For once, they have this fancy new thing. And now they want to learn how to make a bed,” Lorie Hacker said. “You can see the relief on the parents’ faces.”
Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a volunteer-driven nonprofit focused building and delivering hand-made, fully furnished beds to children in need. The organization’s mission is to tackle childhood bedlessness, which the group estimates to affect nearly 3% of children in the United States.
Since being founded in 2012 by Luke Michelson, the group has grown to include 326 chapters, and built 140,583 beds.
The organization’s mantra is “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town.” Making sure kids have a comfortable place to sleep — not a couch, a blanket or the flood — is of foremost importance, according to the organization’s website.
After the Hackers were inspired by the Sleep in Heavenly Peace story, they got to work getting a local chapter founded. They reached out to the national organization, learned more about it and went through training to learn the process.
The central organization made it easy to learn the process of making safe, sturdy beds. They group distributes step-by-step instructions to chapters, and provides promotional materials and ways to attract volunteers for their builds. The organization also provides support through insurance, applying for nonprofit status and billing.
“They essentially gave us a nonprofit in a box,” Ed Hacker said. “All I have to do is raise money, build beds and deliver beds.”
Though based in Martinsville — where the Hackers go to church — the local Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapter works all over the area, including in Johnson County. To help spread their message, they focus on social media to share in different community groups, Lorie Hacker said.
A majority of children who apply for beds — ages 3 to 17 — find them through Facebook, she said. They connect to kids in need of beds through agencies such as the Department of Child Services, Habitat for Humanity and KIC-IT, a Franklin-based group focused on youth homelessness.
“We’ve had situations where kids never had beds, situations where it’s just an average family who has fallen on hard times and their kids have outgrown the beds,” Lorie Hacker said.
They have also partnered with different community groups and businesses such as Home Bank and the City of Martinsville to provide support, through both funding and providing volunteers to help build beds.
Supporters also make sure the children who are receiving beds have pillows, sheets and blankets to sleep on.
“Each kid that applies, we don’t ask a lot of questions. If they need a bed and ask for a bed, we give them a bed,” Lorie Hacker said. “They get a free twin bed, a free mattress, free bedding and pillows.”
To do so, Sleep in Heavenly Peace hosts build days, where volunteers can take part in an assembly line-style construction effort to put the beds together. The groups partner with area Lowe’s stores, both the one in Martinsville and the one in Franklin.
“They’re very generous with tools and materials and support,” Ed Hacker said.
During the build in Franklin on Aug. 12, the group gathered under a large tent and waited for instructions. About 25 people took part throughout the morning, including members from the Franklin chapter of Delta Theta Tau, a philanthropic service sorority who have supported Sleep in Heavenly Peace from the beginning.
The Hackers and other leaders showed them how to complete each step of making a bed, then the process started.
“We have group members who train volunteers on a particular station, so we can work with all skill levels from age 12 and up,” Lorie Hacker said. “In two or three hours, once we get the assembly line going, we’ll have 20 beds built.”
Not even the rain could slow the group down. By noon, they had the beds all finished. Afterward, volunteers delivered the beds to the families who need them.
“It was our big splash, having our first build in Franklin, even though we’ve done a lot of deliveries here,” Lorie Hacker said. “We usually don’t go on the road, because it’s quite a big operation. But we wanted to come here because it’s been such a big supporter, and we want to raise awareness out there.”
Volunteers and donors are always needed for the group, with builds coming up in September, October and November.
“It’s a mission. The kids are really the focus, and it’s joyful to see how happy they are. They’re probably going to get better grades, they’re going to be a better person if they get a good night’s sleep really makes it worth it,” Ed Hacker said.
AT A GLANCE
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
What: A volunteer-driven nonprofit dedicated to building and delivering hand-made, fully furnished beds to children in need.
Where: Based in Martinsville, but works throughout the area, including in Johnson County.
How to help: Donations and volunteers are always needed for upcoming builds. To learn more, go to shpbeds.org/chapter/in-martinsville
