Volunteers building beds for Vermont children

A nationwide effort to make sure every child has a bed has come to Vermont.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace is on a mission to make sure every child in Chittenden County has a place to lay their head at night.

"We made twenty beds. Twenty beds [on Saturday]." said the co-founders of Sleep in Heavenly Peace Chittenden County, Dan Parot and Michael Lemieux.

On Saturday, voulenteers spent the afternoon making beds for kids who don't have one.

"If you don't have a good nights sleep, starting young, it affects their growth, how they do in school, and it affects their quality of life," they said.

It's part of a national organization, Sleep in Heavenly Peace. They estimate 2.2 million kids in the U.S. sleep on the floor every night. What started five years ago as a small group in Idaho, has now spread to 46 states, now including Vermont.

"One of the first things that we encountered in Chittenden County was people saying 'is there really a need for that?' And we went 'we don't know but we're assuming there is' and as we're finding out, there is a need for it," said Robert Brosseau, Chittenden County Chapter President.

Brosseau says they've delivered 27 beds in the past two months and currently have 29 kids on the waiting list. After Saturday's build he says they're on track to fulfill those wishes.

"We want to just keep doing as much as we can to get kids off the floor. It's such a reward. Once you're done delivering and you see the kids' faces, that just makes your day," he said.

They're hoping to make enough beds so that there's one day no longer a need.

To request a bed your child must be between the ages of 3 and 17 and must be a permanent resident. The next volunteer build will be on October 25. You can find more information here: www.shpbeds.org