Donation of New Mattresses Benefit Birmingham-Area Families in Need
To benefit mothers and their children served in our Birmingham-area Family Care ministry, we received a generous donation this week of 50 Sealy quilted mattresses and mattress covers from Bedzzz Express, in partnership with Tempur-Pedic!
Our Family Care ministry provides single moms and their dependent children who find themselves in crisis with a safe, stable place to start over. The transitional housing offered through Family Care provides these mothers the opportunity to gain or maintain employment, save money, receive counseling, gain a support system, and learn life skills such as budgeting, résumé building, and healthy parenting techniques.
A few of our moms who have completed the Family Care program share of its impact in their lives:
“Because of ABCH, I gained some tools and relationships to help me better my life for me and for my girls. We still have work to do, but we are in a better situation to reach the goals I have set for my family.”
“It was nice to know I truly had a family there. It’s not just a program, it’s really a home.”
“One thing that being here has taught me, is how to give. It has just amazed me to see how people, who have no clue who I am, will just give so generously from their hearts. It has moved me to see all the love and support that is given to me and my children from complete strangers. I thank God for the Family Care program and all that they have done and continue to do in the lives of women and children who just need a little help to get back on their feet.”
“In 2017, Bedzzz Express donated mattresses and box springs to Grace’s House of Hope, our Family Care home in Mobile, and in 2015, with Tempur-Pedic, donated several mattresses for all of our Campus Care children’s homes around the state,” said Michelle Glassford, director of communications. “We are once again very grateful for their support and gift of mattresses that will be so meaningful to the families we serve.”
Thank you to Richard Moore and David Riddle from Bedzzz Express and Kinzi Tanley with Tempur-Pedic!
Across Alabama, moms and children in the care of ABCH will have the opportunity for a good night’s rest because of these gifts.
“Often when mothers and their children come to us we see them trying to start fresh in life,” explained Elise Vincent, director of social services in Birmingham. “These moms have made hard decisions in pursuit of what is best for their family such as leaving abusive relationships, getting out of unhealthy support systems, or simply trying to make a better life in a new area. At times, these decisions have been mocked or discouraged by friends or family, and the mothers come to us feeling hopeless and doubting their choices.
“When they enter Family Care, it is our desire to bring some dignity and honor to the choices these moms have made to do what is best for their family,” Vincent continued. “We feel a way to accomplish this is to give them a safe place they can be proud of; a place they can look back and remember as where their new beginning took root and grew into a healthy new journey. Donations such as these mattresses help us show moms they are valued not only by those in our ministry, but also to others in the community they may never even meet.”
Pictured from ABCH with Richard Moore and David Riddle: Rod Marshall, Elise Vincent, and Allison Combs
Last year among all three of our Family Care homes, 102 moms and children (36 moms and 66 children) were provided a safe home to start fresh through our Family Care program.