Sweet Dreams
Team members at Clayton Addison II are changing kids’ lives with brand-new beds.
Joseph Coffee and Chase Kelley watch as Jayson Feres uses a band saw to cut lumber to size for a sturdy new twin bed.
New team members at the Clayton Addison II facility in Alabama start their careers doing something unexpected: building beds for kids who don’t have one. They’re doing this work in service of eight chapters of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit devoted to providing beds free of charge to kids ages 3 to 17 who would otherwise be forced to sleep on the sofa, floor, air mattress or any other spot that isn’t conducive to deep sleep.
Most team members have hands-on experience with home construction—not building beds—but the program gives them the opportunity to practice safe woodcutting skills before transitioning to building homes inside the facility. In the last two years, Clayton Addison II has built more than 2,000 beds.
Clayton Addison II team members Carl Downey, Andrew Worley and Jayson Fere meet on-site with Sleep in Heavenly Peace volunteers Jerry Murray and Carolyn Murray.
That work hasn’t gone unnoticed. “Our partnership with Clayton has been nothing short of a miracle,” says Carolyn Murray, who co-leads the Birmingham South chapter with Jerry Murray. “Chapters often struggle to purchase materials and build beds to meet the needs in their community, but Clayton lifts that burden.”
Jerry and Carolyn Murray of Sleep in Heavenly Peace proudly display a headboard the Clayton Addison II team branded with the organization’s logo.
The generosity isn’t limited to the beds themselves. “It is rare when we arrive to receive Clayton beds that the team members don’t personally stuff the cab of the truck with bedding donations as well,” Murray says. “We have been privileged to share the generosity of Clayton on many occasions as an example of a successful corporation meeting the needs of the next generation in our community.”
For Sleep in Heavenly Peace, it all comes back to a single promise. “Clayton and these eight chapters have wonderfully impacted our motto, ‘No kid sleeps on the floor in our town,’” Murray says. The Birmingham South chapter recently honored Clayton Addison II with its Rusty Saw Award—a fitting accolade for a team that builds homes by trade and beds by heart.
Photo credit: Angela Lowry
