Lifting children ‘up off the floor’

Pullman’s Thad DeBuhr has years of experience in construction. He’s owned a portable shed company. He’s had experience with delegation. He spent years in youth ministry, and he’s now the lead pastor at Real Life Church in Pullman.

Debuhr’s experience, skills and passion — married with his ability to rally people together around a common cause — have dovetailed this past month in the launch of Blessing Beds, a nonprofit dedicated to building bunk beds for children in need on the Palouse.

It’s an effort to bring the community together and build friendships, DeBuhr said. He said the idea of building beds came from a church doing something similar in North Carolina.

“Being in ministry, I see a side of people being in need of help that a lot of people don’t see, so I knew there was some sort of need in the area, but didn’t exactly know what that need looked like,” DeBuhr said. “I put up a Facebook post, and then it started.”

In just the past few weeks, Debuhr and his team of volunteers, working out of the basement of his home, have built and delivered six bunk beds and, as he likes to say, lifted 12 children “up off the floor.” All of those beds have gone to Pullman and Moscow homes, but inquiries have come from across the region, including requests from the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, Walla Walla, Spokane and the Tri-Cities.

Debuhr said he immediately began receiving notifications from community members who wanted to help as well as requests from those in need. DeBuhr posted an online fundraiser and said he received a variety of donations from his network of friends and family.

Through Wednesday, DeBuhr said the group has funds to pay for 25 beds, and that 92 families have requested and been vetted to receive beds as they are built. And that number is just the families who have gone through the nonprofit’s website. He estimates that on social media, he’s received more than 500 requests for help.

As the effort gains momentum, Debuhr knows the success will depend on donations, be it money, woodworking tools, mattresses or sheets. He said donations have arrived from California, Tennessee, North Carolina, Montana and more.

The simple donation of time and commitment from complete strangers is important too, Debuhr said. In addition to the hours needed to make the beds, volunteers have stepped up to serve in leadership positions in the nonprofit. He said Blessing Beds had its first board meeting last week.

“We are doing our best to meet the need as best as we can, with deliveries going out every Saturday,” DeBuhr said. “The goal is to have volunteers rotate through deliveries every week.”

Volunteer and board member Katie Bystrom reached out to DeBuhr with an offer to build the website and create some fundamental processes and infrastructure. She updates the Blessing Beds Facebook page and created the application for those in need and the volunteer signup website. The website is blessingbeds.webs.com/.

The initial need in the community is overwhelming and humbling, she said. Everyone involved has been grateful and wondering how they can give back and help even more, she said. Bed recipients are invited to take part in the process.

“We could be Amazon-Priming all of this stuff, but that takes away the whole point,” Bystrom said. “Seeing pictures and videos of the children helping build, assemble and set up (the beds) shows how once you start helping these kids out, it’s hard to stop.”

Hannah Reimers’ family was one of the first six to receive a bed. She has lived in Moscow for the last month with her 6-year-old son, Spencer, and 3-year-old daughter, Lily, who have been sharing an air mattress.

The family received its bed a week ago with the mattress, pillows, sheets and bedding. She said the entire idea is absolutely amazing — and a huge blessing.

“As a working parent with a job and trying to make ends meet, sometimes you just can’t afford certain things,” Reimers said. “Beds are a commodity that not everyone gets right away because they are expensive and kids grow out of them.”

Reimers said her children were able to bring in individual pieces of wood in to help build the bed and they loved watching it be put together. When they realized they had the bed all to themselves, they were just over-the-moon excited, she said.

“I am hoping to treat the bed well and keep it in good enough condition that if or when my kids grow out of it, I would love to be able to donate it back and pay it forward to another family in need,” Reimers said. “There are so many families in need these days. Paying anything forward provides a sense of community and the gratitude.”

Allison Spain is a journalism student at the University of Idaho. She is writing feature stories for the Daily News this spring. Send Allsion story ideas to editor@dnews.com.