In 2018, four young girls were removed from their home due to abuse and neglect. They were now living with their aunt uncle. The aunt and uncle, overwhelmed with four more mouths to feed, school supplies and clothes to buy, weren’t able to buy beds for the girls. The Love Your Neighbor team stepped up. We bought two bunk bed frames, mattresses and bedding from a local big box store and headed to the aunt and uncle’s home to assemble the beds. Typical of furniture from big box stores, assembly was frustrating and took much longer than it should have.

As we were assembling the bunk beds, the girls were busy deciding which bedding set each of them would have. So, by the time we had the beds assembled, the girls were ready to make their beds. As soon as the bedding was on the mattresses, one of the girls – an 8 year old with blonde hair – jumps into her bed, pulls the covers up to her chin and says, “OK, I’m ready to go to bed.”

It was in that moment I realized this was where God is leading the Love Your Neighbor team. So, over the next few weeks, I drew up bunk bed plans that would be sturdy, long-lasting and easy to assemble in homes. We started having volunteer build days at my house to make sure we always had beds ready for kids that need a place to sleep. We quickly outgrew the woodshop in my garage, and after a few years, we were given a generous donation of woodworking tools and moved our woodshop to a room inside Pulpit Rock Church.

Our Humblewood Workshop allows us to have volunteers build beds regardless of weather conditions. Also, we are now able to have mentorship/woodworking classes and create various outreach opportunities to care for the youth in our city.

As we continue to grow, our goal is that everyone we interact with – volunteers, foster families, kids removed from their homes, senior citizens needing a new bed, grandmothers taking in their grandchildren – feels SEEN, KNOWN and LOVED.

– Luke Wrobleski, Love Your Neighbor Director