Our Stories

About five years ago, Wendell Gramlich’s wife, Carol, was at a local school in West Wayne County, Michigan, where she worked with a student who was no longer progressing with his school work and was falling asleep in class. Carol found out that over Christmas Break, this student had lost his bed and had been sleeping on the floor. When Carol came home, she mentioned this student to Carol and Wendell’s thirteen year old daughter. Their daughter asked how much a mattress would cost, and used some of her own savings to get this student a mattress. Staff at the school donated a headboard and a frame, and soon the student began to progress in his studies without issue.

In 2012, when Luke Mickelson of Sleep in Heavenly Peace and his family took the time to build a few bunk beds for local children that were sleeping on the floor, they never could have imagined the long-term effects of that decision. 

There's a popular country music song by Luke Bryan that says "rain makes corn, and corn makes whiskey, and whiskey makes my baby feel a little frisky." Well sure, I guess. But I do know that rain makes everything wet and muddy, and Western Oregon has a lot of it. You'd hardly notice that though if you spent a rainy Saturday in June building bunk beds with the people who live there because it doesn't phase them one bit.

SHP has added dozens of chapters during the first half of 2018, and one of the side effects has been having too few experienced SHP veterans to attend the inaugural build days for all of our new chapters. This requires everyone in the organization to step up and help, and it also means I get the joy of flying to new places. Such was the case last weekend when I flew from San Diego, California to Eugene, Oregon not knowing entirely what to expect other than that I'd get to build bunk beds for children sleeping on the floor.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace adopted the slogan and motto years ago that reads “No Kid Sleeps on the Floor in Our Town.” It was created, much like everything else with SHP, by a simple, off-the-wall comment from an unsuspecting volunteer. When this all started, we weren’t sure just what message we could use that would best convey our passion and mission. We kicked around all sorts of ideas ranging from “Beds for Babes,” which didn’t last very long, to “Because every child deserves a nice place to sleep.”

It was in this setting and brainstorming mode when my Sister-in-Law brought everything into focus for us when she recommended that we keep things simple like “No Kid Sleeps on the Floor in Our Town.” It rang in my ears and in my heart so well that it was one of those “duh” moments I often have with SHP now. It addressed the mission that we are focused on and shared some of the passion we have towards the mission. Since then, “No Kid Sleeps on the Floor in Our Town” has become SHP’s mission statement, with the ever-evolving change of making our town everyone's town.

It’s been less than a week since the airing of Returning the Favor. As of the posting of this blog post, it’s has received 5.9 million views. I know that Facebook puts a fair bit of advertising into it but it’s still clearly a viral experience.

We have received an amazing outpouring of love from all over the United States… and even beyond. I thought I should share a few stats that illustrate what Mike Rowe has done for us… and it hasn’t even been a week. I also hope it helps those who have reached out to us and need a response from someone on our team to understand why we may seem slow to respond.

Dreams are funny. Happy or sad, scary or exciting, they all end when you wake up. Whether you’re relieved it’s over or so disappointed that you promptly make every attempt to fall asleep and jump back in, ultimately the only reality of a dream is starting a new day when it’s over.

Mine is the rare privilege of living my dream long after waking up, and it started with a simple phone call in late September when a faceless voice requested an interview about our charity, Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

We are so grateful to be a part of Returning the Favor. It was such an honor to be a part of the show and we have seen so much new opportunity because of Mike Rowe and his team. Even more children will be blessed because of this experience.

I’m not a doctor. I’m not a nurse. I’m not in a medical-related professional of any kind. I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. That said, before I try to emphasize how important a good night sleep is to a child, let me first state that the thoughts I’m about to share are a mixture of research, opinion, and common sense. Good to have that off my chest. Now let’s get started:

Over the past five years I have helped build over 1,000 beds. I have also personally delivered hundreds of beds to children in need. Many of these children were sleeping on couches, or air mattresses. Many others were sharing beds with parents and multiple siblings. And, unfortunately, many of those children were sleeping directly on the floor. When it comes to the sleeping conditions of children, at this point I feel like I have seen it all.

The last five years have been wonderful. In the last year SHP has done more than in the previous four years combined. It's time to start sharing the stats. We'll post the stats every month and they'll only get better. 

I am often asked why I got involved with SHP. After five years of building and delivering bunk beds to children, it is a question I genuinely appreciate being asked. It forces me to remember why I dedicate my time to this wonderful cause of helping ensure that No Kid Sleeps on the Floor in our Town. Here is the story:

In December 2012, my close childhood buddy, Luke Mickelson, posted on Facebook that he and his family were going to sacrifice a portion of their Christmas to build bunk beds for children in need. Like many of you, I read posts on Facebook each day about opportunities to serve others. But I’ve never had a post have an impact on me and my emotions like this one did. I immediately called my wife, Heather, and let her know I felt strongly that we needed to drive from Boise, ID to Twin Falls, ID and help with this project. My wife was 7 months pregnant with our fourth child, and, with three young children excited for the quickly approaching Christmas holiday, we plenty going on in our own lives. Yet I couldn’t shake the nearly overwhelming pull to go and help. So, with the support of my family, that’s exactly what we did.