(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

More than one statewide effort is focusing on a problem most of us did not fully grasp until recently. Too many Mountain State children do not have a bed, crib or bassinet of their own to sleep in each night.

The West Virginia State Hospital Initiative is a nonprofit that is not only preserving the history of our state hospitals, but adding to public education efforts and carrying out charitable projects such as those of its Riverside Community Services, which administers the Bed for Every Head program. For the first time since that program began in August 2025, the organization served a household in Wood County this month, when it delivered a crib.

But, “it won’t be the last,” according to Titus Swann, founder and chairman of the State Hospital Initiative.

Nearly 70 beds have been delivered across the state in less than a year. Titus said the project is one that tends to see “the floodgates open” once families in a region become aware there is support available for one of their challenges.

“If there is a child in Wood County without a safe or proper place to sleep, we want the people around that child to know they can reach out,” Swann said. “Sometimes the first step is simply making sure the right person knows help may be available.”

Those working with the Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapter in Jackson County have been doing the work for quite some time, too. Back in November, Chapter President Steve Westfall noted “You never think that’s out there until you see it,” after giving the example of a 9-year-old girl who said the bed the organization delivered was the first she had ever had.

Healthy food, warm clothing, good shoes and coats, and a place to lay their heads at night — there are nonprofit organizations in all our communities working to make sure children have these things and maybe even a few toys during the holidays.

While generous residents continue to support those efforts — and are grateful for them — we ALL look forward to the day when we can rest easier knowing there is much less work for them to do.