Houston Furniture Bank partners with Sleep in Heavenly Peace

HOUSTON, TX -- The Furniture Bank Houston (HFB) continues their partnership with Sleep in Heavenly Peace North Houston to make free bunk beds to prevent children from “Sleeping on the Floor in Our Town”.

Founded August 18, 2018, Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) is the only charitable organization providing hand made bunk beds to children who do not have beds of their own. Each bed is handmade by volunteers who donate their time on Build Events.

Gary Akin is the Chapter Co-President of SHP Houston North and Board Director. The SHP Houston North built 3160 beds in 2022 in 76 Building Events with volunteers. Their goal is to complete 1350 beds by the end of 2023.

“We have known Oli and the Houston Furniture Bank for several years”, said Akin. “We worked with them to supply beds for Afghan Refugees through Catholic Charities. This is an opportunity to make free bunk beds from SHP available to a clientele in Houston we are not covering geographically. Their agencies serve people who don't even know about SHP. It is a win!”.

The Houston Furniture Bank has worked with several chapters of Sleep in Heavenly Peace since 2020. The Clear Lake Chapter has organized four different events in the last two years to construct bunk beds. HFB provides SHP with a place to store their building equipment for their volunteer events as well as mattresses at cost for SHP.

Oli Mohammed, Executive Director of the Houston Furniture Bank had a vision 31 years ago to create an organization to prevent young children from sleeping “On the Floor” in our community. Sleep in Heavenly Peace is the perfect collaboration as they too, believe in No Kids on the Floor.

“To solve this serious issue of children sleeping on the floor, we need to create awareness with an active coalition of people and organizations working towards the same goal. This partnership is moving in the right direction,” said Oli Mohammed.

Both organizations believe every child deserves a place to sleep.

The Furniture Bank has served the community since 1992 by providing essential furniture for families and individuals in need. In 2022, The Furniture Bank served 1,800 families, distributed 1,900 pieces of furniture, 1,035 recycled mattresses were distributed through the “No Kids on the Floor” initiative, implemented in 2019. Overall, over 48,000 mattresses were recycled.

With the support of industry partners and the Houston community, The Furniture Bank Houston works with over 45 social service partner agencies to provide essential furniture to families in need. Furniture assistance means providing the essential furniture that is necessary for family life. The nonprofit serves families affected by poverty, homelessness, domestic violence, mental and physical health concerns, and disasters.

Oli Mohammed, founder of The Furniture Bank insists, “Furniture is a critical steppingstone to improve living conditions and elevate an individual’s personal pride and dignity.”

During its 31-year-history, The Furniture Bank Houston has served over 30,000 families, representing more than 100,000 individuals. They have recycled over 120,000 mattresses. They have ensured that more than 50,000 children sleep in beds rather than on a cold, hard floor, and have been able to be seated at a table to share their meals instead of using discarded cardboard boxes. And they have continued to be a second chance organization, providing meaningful and gainful employment to at-risk job applicants.

To donate visit https://houstonfurniturebank.org/get-involved/donate-money/. The Furniture Bank Houston has two Outlet Stores located at 8220 Mosley Rd., Houston, Texas 77075 and at 295 Sawdust Road, The Woodlands, Texas 77380.

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