The U.S. Department of Education’s statistics on children and youth experiencing homelessness stagger the imagination. In 2019, nearly three percent of children in school didn’t have – well – didn’t have a bed of their own. Doubled-up (living with neighbors, friends, relatives – even strangers), sleeping in cars, staying in shelters, camping or just hiding out in structures unfit for human habitation – our nation’s most important resource is languishing in need. Millions of our children struggle to be kids, living through circumstances that break adults.

           Perhaps you struggled with math as a child, would sleeping on a church floor have made that challenge easier to master? Maybe you changed schools when you were younger. Mom or dad got a new job, and you went from a school English program studying Shakespeare and found yourself way behind in a new town, in a new class halfway through Moby Dick. Would sleeping in a Walmart Parking lot have helped you “catch-up” on your reading?

           Not having housing, safety or a bed, doesn’t just impact homework, it impacts one’s sleep. Sleep is essential to productivity. According to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “ Sleep promotes cognition and memory, facilitates learning, recharges our mental and physical batteries, and generally helps us make the most out of our days .”

Disasters befall children across the nation, every day. Sometimes floods or wildfires displace children. Sometimes landlords raise the rent. Disasters large and small cost children their housing – and consequently their sleep. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has recommendations for how to help kids cope with disasters. Front and center? Sleep!

           Last night a colleague, Diane Nilan, and I spoke to a group gathered at East Side Neighborhood Services, a non-profit community meeting space in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded more than a hundred years ago to help newer Americans adjust to life in the mid-west as they peopled the factories and workplaces of an expanding nation. Today – they’re still fostering security and outreach for the heartland and the people who make it tick. Our host, Mary Anstett, partnered with another area agency to host our discussion about homelessness, how to understand it and how best to address it. You can learn more about our tour across the nation and how to join the conversation here.

My Very Own Bed – the other agency that welcomed us – has the simplest mission statement I’ve ever read: Providing New Beds to Kids. Maybe it’s because of the simplicity of their purpose that the work they do is so valuable, impactful and important.

           One of our hosts, program manager, Mosope Ani, knows the difference a bed makes to a child. She knows the value of comfort, safety and rest. That’s why she works to identify and help children in need. Moving kids off floors and couches – out of automobile backseats and off tent floors – into their very own bed.

           Meg Hobday – her title is dream developer – she reaches into the community to find the funding and resources necessary to literally made dreams come true. (Imagine your wildest wish isn’t to be able to fly like a bird or become a movie star – but simply to have your own safe place to sleep). She’s worked hard since 2014, and it shows. My Very Own Bed will soon give away their 5000th bed.

           Founder and executive director, Michael Allen, sees the work they’ve done for what it is – a stark reminder that with determination and dedication, change can come. He’s grateful for the donors who provide the funding, the local mattress producers who create the bedding and his capable staff that bring it all together. Last night, Mary, Mosope, Meg and Michael brought dozens of thoughtful people together to discuss homelessness, unstable housing and the want for basic necessities in Minneapolis and beyond. It’s that notion of beyond that makes one’s head spin. If 5000 children in the Minneapolis area have needed beds – a population of about 3 million – that means more than one hundred and ten times that many kids need beds across the US! And the need is growing. Imagine if the number of people who commit themselves to solving the problem – people like those who gathered last night – kept growing too.

           In the words of Margaret Mead, “ Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”