Hope to Dream delivers beds, smiles and a good night’s sleep

PHOTOS: Children’s beds flooded the parking lot of Ashley Homestore Sunday, Oct. 22, as part of the Hope to Dream project, which provided 211 beds for children aged 12 and under in need. Ashley worked with the Las Cruces Public Schools to identify children in need. “That’s what we do in Las Cruces,” said Ashley owner Wanda Bowman. “We take care of each other.”

“We had two women show up on bicycles, hoping for a bed for their children,” said Wanda Bowman owner of Ashley Homestore, discussing the Hope to Dream project.

The project took place Oct. 22 in the parking lot of Ashley Homestore, and Bowman and her staff gave away 211 children’s beds.

“Every child should have a bed of their own to sleep well at night,” Bowman said.

She and her team worked with Las Cruces Public Schools to identify children in need. Funding for the beds came mostly from Bowman and Ashley Homestore, along with some friends who wanted to pitch in for the project.

“We had one woman come up with five children, all under the age of 12, who had all been sleeping in the same bed,” Bowman said. “We gave them five beds.”

Ashley also provided stuffed animals for children who showed up.

A physician who recently relocated to Las Cruces from Haiti, and has not established his practice yet in the United States, received a bed for his son. Bowman said she’s looking forward to helping the mother and father as well, to help them get on their feet in their new country. She said they will also be receiving some other furniture and kitchen supplies from local nonprofit Revolution 120 and other donors.

“What we need to do for our community is to take care of each other,” Bowman said. “That’s what Las Cruces does. Churches, and other merchants and organizations do a good job for our community, and this is something we could do. Every child should have a nice bed and a good meal at night. In a country as wealthy as this is, no one should go to sleep at night cold, hungry, or without a bed.”

At the end of the day Sunday, Bowman received a text from one of the mothers who received beds. The text included a photograph of her two sons, snuggled in their new beds.

“To see those smiles on those little boys’ faces, that made all the work and effort worth it,” Bowman said.

And the women on bicycles? No, they didn’t have to cart the beds back on their bikes.

“I had an employee load the beds and the bikes up in truck and take them all back home,” Bowman said.