Beds for Kids

OHAAT provides disadvantaged children living in the Philadelphia area with a basic, but often overlooked, need. There are countless organizations that help families find housing, but assistance often ends there. Few people venture inside the homes of low income families. Few people see what children endure—shared sleeping bags, and crowded beds and sofas.

For our Beds for Kids program, we purchase new twin mattresses and foundations to deliver with bed kits – sheets, blankets, mattress covers, pillows, and pillow protectors. The mattresses that we provide are made of high quality Tempur-pedic foam. (They are hypoallergenic and resistant to bed bugs.) The foundations come from a local manufacturer who uses excess fabric that would otherwise be discarded. And most of our beds kits come from individuals and partner organizations that hold linen drives.

Our goal for 2011 was to deliver beds to 500 children in need. We exceeded this goal, delivering beds to 522 children! Read more about OHAAT’s 500 Bed Challenge>>>

The typical family that we serve lives below the poverty threshold and is headed by a single parent with multiple children. Many have just moved from shelters or other temporary housing into government subsidized housing. The map below shows the locations of our 2010 deliveries.