Community Champion: 'Sweet Dream Makers' Fight for a Good Night's Sleep

You can't put a price on a good night's sleep.
All across South Florida, children and adults are waking up on cold floors, many of them without even a proper pillow or blanket. Whether it's due to financial struggles or simply a poor living situation, families can easily find themselves in a situation where they're crammed into a single bed or without one at all.

Recognizing this need, Suzanne Broad founded the non-profit Sweet Dream Makers in 2016.
"We all take a bed for granted," said Broad, who works as the organization's executive director "Every single night when I get into bed, I breath a sigh of relief. When you think about it, that starts to happen to everybody… With so many of our families, we find that the children are even doing better in school, with parents saying that their kids are reading in bed… It's a safe place for them."
The goal of Sweet Dream Makers is to promote the health and wellness of children and families by providing, beds, bedding and essential furniture. These families are often referred to the organization through local children's services agencies, teachers, police officers, employers and others who care.
Since its inception, approximately 2,000 beds have been donated to local families in need.
"We just treat every family as if they are our own," Broad said. "Every family is treated as individuals. Every circumstance is unique to that family, and we respect that. Every person gets the absolute respect that we deserve. We treat everyone with kindness, and everyone becomes a friend. That's how we would want to be treated."
In keeping with that hands-on, one-on-one style of attention, Broad said one of the greatest joys she's found with the organization is being able to watch children pick out their own pillows and sheets to go with their new bed. With this simple act, these children are able to gain confidence and independence.
"When they get their own bed, they just feel better about themselves and ready to face their day," Broad said.
While the organization relies heavily on physical donations and volunteers, "Sweet Dream Makers" is also able to reach more and more people each year through charitable grants, such as the one they recently received from the Florida Panthers Foundation's Community Champions Grant Program.
At each home game, the Panthers recognize and award one grant for up to $25,000 to a local 501(c)(3) organization or government agency serving the South Florida area. Moss Construction and the Moss Foundation have partnered with the Panthers to be the presenting sponsor of the outreach initiative.
Started in 2016, the Panthers will donate $5 million to the community over a five-year span.
"The Panthers Foundation Grant has been the most exciting grant that I've received because it wasn't a relationship that I had bee cultivating," Broad said. "They read our story and understood it. It resonated apparently, and they acted upon it. That, for me, was the most gratifying."
Presented with a check for $25,000 during Florida's game against the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 28 at BB&T Center, Broad said the donation will go an incredibly long way and viewed it as "a lot of beds." By her estimation, it costs $250 for a new bed and bedding, meaning 100 individuals could benefit from it.
Terry Hunter, who was also in attendance at the game for the donation, is one of those people.
After gaining custody of his two teenage children, Hunter found himself in need of new beds for his newly blended family. When Hunt and his wife, Tracy, arrived to the "Sweet Dream Makers" warehouse, they not only picked out new twin beds, but also a new king bedroom set to replace their broken one.
Prior to receiving their donation, Hunter's children had been sharing a futon in the living room.
"It made a big difference," Hunter said. "Sleep is the most important thing because they've got to go to school in the morning. For the growth of the kids, to have something to sleep on is important… If you could see their faces, they just lit up when they got to [pick out their bedding]."
When asked to summarize his experience with the organization, Hunter said it was life changing.
"They make your dreams come true," he said.