Building hope, one bed at a time
It all started in February 2023. Kellie Porter, Vice President of the West Region Office, and Camilo Velásquez, Manager of Donor Relations, were visiting a community partner in South Bend when they learned about a single mother with eight kids trying to go through winter in their car due to the lack of beds in their apartment.
The Catholic Charities team soon started working on finding beds for this family, and together with 1Roof, were able to assist this immediate need. However, the concern remained, if this could happen to this family, it is probably happening to others. The team started researching the number of kids in the South Bend-area who go to sleep every night without a bed. The result was flabbergasting. Approximately 2% of the kids in the community sleep every night on a couch, a car, or the floor.
Soon, Catholic Charities got in touch with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nationwide non-for-profit based out of Utah and with chapters in the state of Indiana. After a few meetings, the group set a date for the very first Build-A-Bed event on April 29, the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association’s Global Day of Service.
Thanks to the support of the 1st Source Foundation, Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley, the South Bend Cubs, Sible Machinery, and others, the event hosted more than 170 volunteers. Together, they were able to build 117 beds for kids in Elkhart, LaGrange, and St. Joseph counties.
Since April, the team has been able to deliver beds to kids in all three counties and has witnessed the tremendous ongoing needs kids experience on a daily basis. This experience proves that hope can be offered even in the most complexed situations.
“This program is giving a child the gift of a safe place to sleep and a safe place to stay.”