Four children sleep on one couch in a home in the Golden Triangle. The only other piece of furniture in the house is a mattress on the floor, where their mother sleeps. Lynn Suggs, a volunteer for the Dream Center Golden Triangle, says this is the reality for many impoverished families in the region.
“We went into the home and the only piece of furniture in the home was a sofa,” Suggs said. “What we saw at first were three children on the sofa sound asleep. And when we got there, the children started waking up, and up under the three was another little boy. So there were four children sleeping on one sofa.”
Suggs was one of 40 volunteers who were working to build beds in the 4-County Electric Power Association parking lot this past Saturday as a part of the Dream Center’s Bedz4Kidz program. The group built over 30 beds in two hours, pushing the total number of beds built by the Dream Center Golden Triangle in the past three years over 1,000.
The Bedz4Kidz program supplies beds to families, along with new bedding, personal and dental hygiene supplies, books and Bibles. Volunteers help with placing beds and delivering other supplies to homes throughout the Golden Triangle.
John Almond, director of the Dream Center Golden Triangle, said he has experienced many homes like the one Suggs described since starting their Bedz4Kidz program three years ago. Almond described the first home he saw without a bed in it, and how it pushed the Dream Center to take action.
“We found two children that did not have a bed of their own, and a mom who also did not have a bed,” Almond said. “They didn’t have any beds or any furniture other than a sofa with no upholstery and two steel chairs. As we continued through the neighborhood, we found one child after another after another (without beds).”
Almond said the Dream Center estimates that there are 6,000-7,000 children without beds in the Golden Triangle region. The center has already placed 878 beds in homes throughout the region, and he anticipates having over 1,200 placed by the end of the year.
“We’re at right about 1,000 beds built, and we place eight to 11 beds every week throughout the entire year,” Almond said. “We never stop. Our placement teams that go out are all volunteers, and most of them are ages late 60s to 70s, and every week, they load up these beds and place them in the homes of needy children throughout the Golden Triangle.”
Generally, two-thirds of the beds will go to Lowndes County, while the other third will be divided between Clay County and Starkville, according to Almond.
Almond emphasized all kinds of people volunteer with the Dream Center, as the nonprofit partners with churches across all denominations in the area, along with corporate entities and service organizations.
On Saturday, 4-County Electric was partnering with the nonprofit financially, as well as physically: About half of the volunteers were 4-County employees.
“Throughout your whole life, you’re supposed to give back, no matter what phase of life you’re in,” said Brian Clark, CEO for 4-County Electric. “When you serve other people, you walk away a better person for having done something… I get more out of it than I feel I’m giving.”
Saturday’s volunteer group also included many senior citizens. When asked about senior involvement in the project, Almond said the Dream Center loves to get older volunteers in on the action.
“This has given so much purpose,” Almond said. “We love to recruit people who are 65 and older because they only need to be asked, and they want to respond, and they bring a lifetime of skill and background and abilities to the Dream Center mission.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 48 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
