PALM HARBOR, Fla. — According to Sleep In Heavenly Peace, an organization that provides beds for children in need, thousands of kids in the Tampa Bay area are in need of a place to sleep.

What You Need To Know

  • Sleep In Heavenly Peace says the need for beds for kids is growing  

  • SHP says 3% to 4% of kids don't have access to a bed in the Tampa Bay Area

  • The organization teamed up with Keller Williams Realty to build 120 beds 

The Sleep in Heavenly Peace works with local companies to help try to meet some of the demand by building beds. In Palm Harbor, it organized an event with Keller Williams to construct more than 125 beds in a single day.

Jim Baker is the Tampa area chapter director of Sleep In Heavenly Peace, and he helped to coordinate the effort.

“Right now, there are about 3,500 kids waiting for beds," he said. "We will deliver maybe about a thousand beds this year, more like 1,500 probably."

He says the need is growing.

“Three to Four percent of kids go to bed without a bed in the Tampa Bay area," Baker said. "That looks like 8,000 kids every night that don’t have a bed."

Dozens of real estate agents with Keller Williams helped in the effort, including New Port Richey Councilwoman Kelly Mothershead.

“We all get to work together, in the market we compete, but here, we are all working together, making these beds," she said. "It means everything."

The real estate group takes part in an event called “Red Day.”

“We take the second Thursday in May — we stop doing business and give back to our community,” real estate agent Becky Reitmeyer said.

Eventually, all the constructed beds will be delivered to those who need them most.

“Our biggest clients are families who are right on the edge," Baker said. "They can put food on the table, clothes on their backs, but they can’t get over the edge to get a bed for their kids."