Hartselle group builds bunk beds for children in need

Story by Lauren Estes-Velez

One spring night earlier this year, Hartselle native John Jackson watched an internet reality show that spotlight a group of people in Idaho who made such an impact on him, he made a call to the creators the next day.

“Returning the Favor” is a reality web series that follows Mike Rowe as he travels across the United States in search of people who are giving back to their communities. Jackson happened to catch the episode that featured Sleep in Heavenly Peace. Twin Falls, Idaho, is home to Luke Mickelson, who created SHP – an organization that builds bunk beds for children who are otherwise sleeping on the floor in some tough situations. SHP was founded in 2012 when Mickelson’s church needed 12 bunk beds for some children in need.

After seeing the episode in May, Jackson did research on Sleep in Heavenly Peace and discovered the closest locations to Hartselle were in San Antonio, Texas, and South Carolina – and at that time, the group had nine chapter locations.

When Jackson first started the venture in Hartselle, he did so because of his personal interests.

“I like to do a little woodworking here and there, and it’s become an enjoyable hobby,” Jackson said. “I decided to press the button on the Sleep in Heavenly Peace site about creating a chapter in Hartselle. After exchanging three or four emails with the creator, I was on a plane to Twin Falls, Idaho, to attend a president’s class on starting a chapter in Hartselle.”

The Sleep in Heavenly Peace business has since grown to 100 chapters in 36 states. The business is nonprofit and completely runs on donations.

“We have had several groups locally that have already poured in with products and with financial support,” Jackson said. “Hartselle Lowe’s, Corum’s building supply, Alabama Overstock helps with mattresses in Hartselle, Magnolia River Services, Merrimack Realty – he’s one of my bigger supporters.

“Mattress Firm in Cullman has also donated mattresses for the beds,” Jackson added. “Life Church and Bellevue Baptist Church have donated time and money to this outreach program.” Whether it’s $1,500 or $15, it will help, Jackson said. “We have been way busier than we planned to be – which is great. It just requires that many more people to help us get the job done.”

Since the group started in Hartselle, it has received dozens of requests for beds.

“Right before we had our first build day, we were really weren’t getting any requests for beds. I didn’t know how to plug in and find those in need,” Jackson said. “I decided to put the information on What’s Happening in Hartselle because it was summertime, and most options I could think of wouldn’t be available until school started back. So I posted it about 8 p.m. on that Facebook page, and by 7 a.m. the next morning, we had 20 requests for beds.”

Just like that – a nonprofit that no one had heard of locally had requests to help children in the community.

“We are so thankful we found volunteers and supporters who have donated money and wood toward these bunk bed projects,” Jackson said. “We finally had our first team build, and our core group of friends and people from church built five bunk beds, which is 10 regular size beds. Reggie Corum donated some wood, and we were able to do an additional bed. They have also really helped us with donating supplies.

“We currently have about 40 people waiting and 30-plus beds that we are trying to set up deliveries for,” Jackson added. “My wife and I both work full-time, so we’re doing a lot of these deliveries on the weekends. We deliver within a 50-mile radius. We’ve delivered locally and to Huntsville, Cullman, Vinemont, Moulton – just to name a few.”

Jackson’s goal now is to have others across Alabama start chapters to cover greater areas.

“The way it works now, they can go on our website, and all the zip codes we service are linked to that request form,” Jackson said. “So they come to us. I’d love to see chapters in Birmingham, Florence and Huntsville for the parts that we can’t get to. We’ve also done deliveries in Tennessee a little bit – being that we’re the only one in Alabama.”

When it comes to the process of building the beds, Jackson said his team has created an assembly line program.

“There’s about eight to 10 core people I call my build team,” Jackson said. “They are mostly friends and family, but they can’t be there all the time because they have kids and jobs, so we use six to eight on each build. Each time it takes a sponsor to allow us to use their location to get it done. We had Magnolia River Services in Hartselle and Decatur allow us to build 20 beds in their parking lot. They had 20 volunteers from the company help us, so some of the core team were supervising. Another time, we went to Lowe’s. It took us about three hours to build 25 beds.

“It’s hard to say how long it takes to build each bunk bed because it’s an assembly line. A normal build day would take much longer for that many beds.”

The theme for Sleep in Heavenly Peace is simple: “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town,” and Jackson said he wants that to be the goal in Hartselle, too.

For more information about this organization, Jackson can be reached at 256-616-6784 or by email at john.jackson@shpdeds.org.

Bedding for the beds is accepted, and a drop-off location in Hartselle is at Warehouse Coffee Shop. All checks can be mailed to P.O. Box 1852 in Hartselle. Jackson said all donations stay local for building of beds, and workers are strictly on a volunteer basis. For additional information about starting a chapter or additional locations or to request a bed for someone in need, visit www.shpbeds.org.