Former WV lawmaker now builds beds for Jackson County children who need a place to sleep

by Amelia Ferrell Knisely, West Virginia Watch
September 22, 2025

RIPLEY, W.Va. — In Jackson County, some children don’t have a bed to sleep in. They’ll sleep on couches, on the floor or doubled up with siblings. 

Former House of Delegates member Steve Westfall decided to do something about it. 

He launched a local chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a national nonprofit organization that uses volunteers to build and deliver handmade beds along with mattresses, bedding and pillows to children in need. The nonprofit’s slogan says, “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town.”

Since Labor Day, Westfall said they’d delivered nine beds to local kids. 

“An 11-year-old told us this was the first bed she has ever had,” said Westfall, who served as a Republican in the House from 2012 to 2024.

He says they’ll deliver 25 beds to children by the end of the month.

“We know there’s a need. We got two more applications today,” he said Sept. 16.

Westfall said he learned about Sleep in Heavenly Peace from a fellow lawmaker, Sen. Ben Queen, R-Harrison, who had built beds in his home county. 

West Virginia has a rising child poverty rate and a foster care crisis — issues Westfall heard about in the Legislature — that have contributed to children needing beds. Sometimes grandparents suddenly take in multiple grandchildren, and they don’t have enough beds or blankets for the children or the means to pay for it.

Westfall worked with fellow Ripley Rotary Club members to get the local chapter up and running.

In Ripley, not far from Westfall’s insurance agency, there’s now a building full of lumber, table saws, sanders and more. Westfall said that grants and local donations helped it come together. 

Westfall traveled to Salt Lake City to learn how to make the beds from Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

Volunteer groups come in on designated weekends to build and assemble single beds and bunk beds. There’s a dipping tank for a mixture of vinegar and steel wool, where sideboards and headboards are treated to repel bed bugs.  

“Ten year olds could do this,” Westfall said. “We had 8-year-olds on the sanders, and we had 80-year-olds on the sanders.”

Finished beds are stacked in a 20 foot storage building next door donated by the local Constellium plant. 

“The community has really been supportive,” Westfall said.

Sheets, blankets and pillows — all donated items — are sorted in bags and labeled by gender and age to be delivered along with the beds and mattresses. 

Families can apply for beds through a link shared on Facebook.

“As long as you live in Jackson County, we’ll approve you, ages 3 to 17,” Westfall said. “We deliver them and set them up.”

Westfall said the biggest need at this time is money to purchase mattresses. He also hopes to see more Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapters open in the state. There are currently four chapters of the nonprofit in West Virginia. 

If you’d like information about Sleep in Heavenly Peace, contact Steve Westfall at steve.westfall@shpbeds.org.

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West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.