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September 11, 2024 14 mins
The national non-profit Sleep in Heavenly Peace has opened a Cincinnati chapter in 2024, and already they're making a huge difference in the lives of families and children who have no bed of their own. Perhaps they lost their home and belongings, now living with relatives who don't have the accomodations. Perhaps their parent has died and grandma doesn't have beds for the kids she's now raising. Whatever the reason, Sleep in Heavenly Peace is building bunk-style beds for free and delivering them, with a new mattress and bedding, to hundreds of children, and want to do so much more. 

Click here for information on the Cincinnati east chapter.

Find a chapter near you here.
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Sandy Collins. This is iHeart Cincy. This is
a tri state public affairs show here in Cincinnati. My
next guests are the president and vice president of a
national nonprofit devoted to providing free beds to children who
need them here in Cincinnati. Todd Foreman is the new
Cincinnati East Chapter president. Carrie Satarski is the vice president

(00:20):
of Sleep in Heavenly Piece Cincinnati East. They make bunk
style beds for children who don't have a place to
lay their head. Both of you, welcome to iHeart Cincy.
You two are here with Sleep in Heavenly Peace. This
is the national nonprofit over three hundred and fifty local
chapters throughout the country, and yours is one of the

(00:40):
very newest chapters, having formed. Was it in January of
this year? Carrie? How did you get involved?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
So? I first started volunteering with Sleep and Having a
Peace with the Butler County chapter years ago with a
friend just tagged along to a few deliveries, and then
through school and through Todd, I joined a bed build
in delivery last year, and then he started the chapter
in January, and I just thought it was the perfect
opportunity to come on board. I've been looking for something

(01:10):
for the past couple of years, you know, now that
my kids are older, so that I could just dive
into and so it was just a great opportunity.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
So, Todd, what gave you the wherewithal and the gumption
to start up a new chapter of this nonprofit?

Speaker 3 (01:23):
Sure? So yeah, I've been doing volunteer work pretty much
my entire life and have coordinated volunteer programs in high
schools most of my adult career as a teacher. And
I ran across sleep and Heavenly Peace through some work
I do with another nonprofit. We got going called Magnified Giving,
and I heard about him and it sounded really interesting,

(01:45):
and I was too busy to do much. And then
I was reintroduced to it and went to a build
and then help with the delivery, and I said, I'm sold.
And so, living in Anderson Township, not in Middletown where
the activities were taking place, I said, I gotta do
something down here. There's got to be kids in Cincinnati,
Hamilton County, Northern Kentucky that need beds as well, and

(02:06):
so I said, somebody's got to do it. So I
decided to sign up, and I figured we could convince
enough people to join us, people like Carrie and many
of the awesome people on our team, and so here
we are. We're, you know, probably six or seven months
into really being active and just it's been a really
impactful nonprofit.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
So let's tell everybody what you're actually doing. You're finding
children who need a bed. They have maybe a home
to live in, but they're sleeping on the floors, they're
sleeping on the couches, and you know, we just don't
think about that kind of stuff, or if you do
think about it, it doesn't seem like it would be a
huge thing. But you're finding hundreds and hundreds Carrie, tell

(02:46):
me about that.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yes, So when we first started the Cincinnati chapter, there
were over four thousand kids on the waiting list for
beds in Hamilton County. So and kind of when you're
living in your bubble, in your world and you have
no idea that there's this going on, this magnitude going
on with kids in the area.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
So when you're talking about a build, you basically get
these donated materials and gather a bunch of volunteers together
and spend a few hours building these these beds that
look like wooden bunk beds. They're very cute and todd
I love the brand that you guys put on the end.
They burn a brand of the organization on the end

(03:25):
of the bed. What kind of skills do you need
to be a part of that if you want to
be on one of these builds.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
Well, you really don't have to have too many skills.
We're happy to show you how they how to build
bed shp sleeping heavily pieces put together a great program
nationally process that from cutting the wood, distanding the wood,
to assembling, drilling, assembling, staining, it's all laid out. We
just have to follow the success of people in front
of us. We do we would love to get donating materials,

(03:53):
we do end up buying the materials, so we do
ask for sponsors to sponsor the beds. And when we
do a bed build, we typically try to do between
twenty to forty beds maybe more in a build and
it keeps a good group of fifty to sixty people
actively engaged for two to three hours and it's a
very rewarding experience. It's something that adults and kids can

(04:14):
do together. We also have deliveries which we'll talk about,
which also were very family friendly. Adults and kids can
deliver beds together. So of all the service activities I've
been part of, it's really great hands on. We teach
you to everything. You don't need to have any skills,
you just have to pay attention, and once you get
involved with the adults and the kids together, it's very

(04:36):
rewarding because you see the result.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
It's so fun too, these kinds of opportunities for women
who are trying to figure out how do I handle
this saw?

Speaker 3 (04:44):
On?

Speaker 1 (04:44):
What's this saw called? Because it just they're all saws
to me, but they all mean something different. So it's
fun for women and young girls especially to go with
their young boys and their husbands to something like this
and actually do something that's really meaning.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Well, we'll talk.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
About the delivery of these beds here in just a second,
but Carrie, tell me about how someone will request a
bed from your organization.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
You can go to SHP beds dot org backslash apply
and apply for a bed and once they apply, it
will actually funnel directly to the correct chapter that is
within their zip code, so then it'll pop through to
us if they're in the Hamilton County zip codes and
then we'll receive all the information and reach out to
them and talk through their situation and try to get

(05:34):
them scheduled.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
So how far have you gotten through those four thousand requests?
What you got started less than a year ago.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Well, so, you know, unfortunately so many people have moved
or changed zip codes or so we've kind of asked
them all to reapply. So so far we've delivered over
one hundred beds this year. We've reached our hundred bed
delivery last this past month, so that was kind of
exciting for us. But yeah, we just encourage people to
continually apply so that we can provide beds for as

(06:05):
many kids.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
You're building all these components separately. You're doing the headboard
and the sideboards and the slats. Do you actually assemble
them at the people's home or do you have them
assembled and just bring them in.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah, once we complete a build, the headboards, the side rails,
and the slats are all separate, and we have a
warehouse in new Town where we store all the materials,
and when we do deliveries, we get everything organized and
we do assemble the beds in the house, the apartment,
whatever the situation is. And what's really I really like
and Carrie can attest it's fun when you can get
the kid who's going to sleep in the bed to

(06:38):
actually help build the bed. It's very rewarding for them
and it's the highlight of their day. You know.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
Some of these can be sensitive deliveries and it's a
very personal thing for these people. It's very overwhelming emotionally
to finally see your child in a bed that you
haven't been able to provide. So tell me how you
address that.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yes, so I think one of the you know, aside
from them getting a bed, one of the most important
things during the delivery is just engaging with the family
and the children and connecting with them and seeing them
and listening to them. You know, on a recent delivery
with one of our teams, there was a situation where
a dad needed, you know, wanted to request additional beds
for his kids, but he felt bad initially asking for

(07:21):
extra beds and so and he doesn't want to voice
that concern also in front of his children. So you know,
one of our volunteers stepped outside with him to have
a private conversation, you know, and just really connect and
listen and understand the situation they're in.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
You're building these wooden frames and then they also can
be converted to bunk beds. It looks like from the
photographs that I've seen, I haven't been on a builder
or a delivery, but it looks like these kids are
just in heaven once they get their their bunk bed
or their single bed.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
What about the parents, that's a good question. Yeah, the
parents and the guardians, whoever it is that might be
carrying for the kids. In some cases it's a grandma,
in some case it's an aunt. It's just any situation.
They're very appreciative, obviously sometimes embarrassed that they actually had
to ask for beds for their kids. You know, they've
put themselves in a situation or whatever has happened, they've

(08:16):
been in a situation where they've had to ask for help,
and that's very hard for people to do, but it
is very rewarding. I had the chance to spend time
with a grandma who was a young grandma on a
recent build, and her two grandkids were there because her
daughter just got sick and died and now all of
a sudden, she's got two kids that just delightful kids,
and almost three and one was going to be a

(08:36):
freshman in high school because we do deliver from ages
three to seventeen, and it was just very nice getting
to spend time with her. She's spilt her story and
share more of it. She just wanted somebody to listen
to her. So it is very rewarding. And the parents
and the guardians and grandparents are always just so great
to talk to.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
When you're accepting help. It's so hard, isn't it. It's
so hard to accept help. But I'm so glad that
groups like yours, Sleep and Heavenly Piece is able to
get together with volunteers. Now, you do have some national donors.
Do you have any local donors?

Speaker 3 (09:09):
We do, Yeah, We've got quite a few local donors,
a lot of people. It's a cause that a lot
of people can wrap their mind around and be active in.
So Nationally, Low's has been a big sponsor of the
Sleep and Heavenly Piece. They don't provide us with it would,
but they give us really good service and good discounts.
Plus they give national money that we're able to tap into. Locally.
We've partnered with different companies. I've been fortunate enough to

(09:32):
be able to have a connection to Megacorp. They did
a build with us. The Cincinnati Reds Foundation recently did
a build with us through our connection. One of our
board members or core team members is Sunplace for the Reds,
Brent Suitor, great ballplayer.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
So if a company wants to do a build with
their employees and maybe get some beds made, how do
they do that, Kirie.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
Well, they just would reach out to us and we
would talk about how the funding of those beds and
get it scheduled, and then they they recruit their team members.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
And then everybody gets together in some spot and starts
zipping up the saws and hammering the hammers.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
And we bring all the tools with us. Since this
is our first year, I wanted to I didn't want
to bite off the whole city at one point, so
we started east. We've quickly moved west. In fact, we
quickly also moved into northern Kentucky because the closest chapter
is down in Louisville, so there's a huge need in
northern Kentucky. So to answer question, yeah, we are our
bases on the east side, but we're pretty much covering

(10:31):
up most of Hambleton County at this point.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
We're talking today with Todd Formani's the chapter president of
Sleep and Heavenly Piece. This is a national nonprofit that
builds beds for children that don't have a place to
sleep in their home. And the vice president Carrie Satarski,
who with Todd works together to try to change lives
in this way. What do you too need from from

(10:55):
the listeners and what can we do for you today here?

Speaker 3 (10:59):
Well, I think we both have requests. We both operate
the nonprofit. Carrie takes care of the most difficult part,
which is the delivery side, and I've been corresponding with
or helping with coordinate the build side. So Carrie can
tell you on a delivery side what we're always in
need of.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
So on the delivery side, we're always in need of
betting you bed in a bag's, twin size blankets, pillows.
We would love for organization, schools, anyone listening to maybe
host a betting drive. We gladly accept any type of
obviously monetary donations that we can use to buy the betting.
We love volunteers. We're always looking for volunteers to go

(11:39):
out on the deliveries with us and enjoin the team.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
And that Amazon wish list I was looking at. Is
a very easy way to get betting to you because
on Amazon's wish list for Sleeping Heavenly Peace, there is
the opportunity have all these different bedsets that you can
just charge it to your card and send it to
them and then it goes and so all of a
sudden you're opening the mail and there's more betting, because

(12:04):
that is a big part of what you want to have,
the complete set for these kids. Yeah, so you have
a couple of builds coming up I see in September, Carrie,
can you tell me about the first one, which is
coming up on the September fourteenth.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yes, that one is with am I Homes and Peyton's
Lemonade Stand.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
And how do folks volunteer to help out with that?

Speaker 3 (12:29):
That is a closed build, meaning we have the sponsors
of the build get first priority on the spots. However,
we will probably need a few extra hands, so they
can certainly visit our website and then contact us and
I will make sure that they get invited if there's
an opportunity for.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
Them, because you don't have space for three hundred volunteers.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
Yeah, we don't have that many tools. Yeah, yeah, we
usually do about fifty to sixty max.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
And then the next build is the end of the month.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, that's also a those build. We have a company,
as we mentioned companies will sponsor a build and that's
a close build at our warehouse with a P ANDNG
Ventures group. So it's one of our core team members.
It's his group of about thirty to fifty people that
will be coming and building some beds. We will be
having some open bed builds when we get funding to
do that. But because we are an all volunteer organization,

(13:19):
nobody in our organization gets paid at the chapter level
and we just don't have money laying around to buy
it and get When we get the money, we will
purchase the wood and we will open up for other
people to join us on builds.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
Todd Foreman, chapter president, and Carrie Satarski the vice president
of Sleep in Heavenly Piece. They do great work providing
beds for kids here in the Tri State who don't
have a place to sleep. Thank you so much for
everything that you do.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (13:48):
That's iHeart Cincy for this week. Thank you so much
for listening. Remember for questions, comment suggestions, just email me.
iHeart Sinsey with an I at iHeartMedia dot com. Listen
to this show or an any of the other one
hundred episodes that we've put in the podcast section of
the iHeartRadio app. Downloaded. It is all free. You'll learn
a lot about Cincinnati. I'm Sandy Collins.

Speaker 3 (14:10):
iHeart Cincy is a production of iHeartMedia Cincinnati
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