CHILDREN SNUG IN THEIR BEDS IS GOAL FOR NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS

It was a week before Christmas and Frank Revson was sawing two-by-fours at a shed behind a church on Carey Station Road. 

At the same time nine miles away, Rita Cheeley was all smiles and giving thanks at her apartment near downtown Greensboro.

“It’s a blessing,” she said.

Rita and her family had just received early Christmas presents - two newly constructed beds, mattresses, mattress protectors, sheets, pillows and comforters. 

The beds had been built by Frank and other members of the Greensboro First United Methodist Church Missions team. 

That morning members of the local non-profit organization Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN), Dave Nicholson and Stu Scherer, delivered, setup and made the beds. As part of its Beds for Kidz project, NHN purchases the materials and bedding for the church’s volunteers to build the beds. The young children also get a stuffed animal or character to hug at night.

“Seeing their eyes light up when we bring the bed in is certainly amazing,” said Frank, who is also a member of Neighbors Helping Neighbors. “Especially the kids that are sleeping on the floor, on the sofa or male and female children sleeping together on the bed.”

An estimated 7,500 people in Greene and Putnam counties live below the poverty level. Since NHN’s Beds for Kidz program began in 2021, more than 220 beds have been built and, along with all bedding, delivered to needy families in the two counties. 

So, sadly, Rita’s story is not unique. 

She lost her job and home at a mobile home park and could not afford to store what furniture she owned. Rita, her 7-year-old daughter and two boys, ages 9 and 13, eventually found a small 3-bedroom place to live.

“When we got blessed with this apartment,” she said, “I basically had to start over with no money, no nothing. This means so much, I’m going to cry.”

Today, Rita is substitute teaching while actively looking for a full-time job.  

Thanks to Neighbors Helping Neighbors and the Missions team at Greensboro First United Methodist Church, Rita and each of her three children now have their own place to sleep.

Since 2020, NHN has helped those in need of a hand-up, NOT a handout. NHN members verify each applicant’s need before assistance is given.  

NHN’s focuses on one-time critical needs - home repairs, repairing or replacing a primary vehicle for families, and the Beds for Kidz program. NHN primarily serves low-income families, older adults, children, single working mothers and their children, military veterans, and developmentally and/or physically challenged individuals.