Founder Scott Smalling delivers Relief Beds to Lava Mae patrons in San Francisco.
Seattle-based Relief Bed International, an organization founded in 2015 by industry veteran Scott Smalling, has begun its work of distributing comfortable, portable bedding to needy populations. It partnered with Sleepless in Seattle, a local group that for the second year in a row distributed bedding and comfort kits to the homeless in Kings County; in addition, Relief Beds were delivered to the homeless in San Francisco, in partnership with nonprofit Lava Mae, which operates mobile hygiene units.
“I reached out to (Lava Mae founder) Doniece Sandoval after seeing her story on the news,” Smalling said. “She is a wonderful person with a superb mission. In short, she has taken decommissioned municipal buses and wrapped them beautifully with her messaging and, most importantly, created two huge and private bathrooms with shower, sink and toilet. She has scheduled stops in San Francisco to provide showers. … This provides a great sense of dignity for (the homeless) and refreshes their spirits. We all know how good a shower feels if you haven’t taken one for while.
“This was my first experience in the field with the homeless and I was honestly transfixed by their stories and how close we all are to this,” Smalling continued. “I met a 55-year-old man who recently was on a senior tennis tour throughout South America and Europe, experienced some health problems—then the bottom dropped out. (There was a) 94-year-old evicted from her home and an MBA from Stanford, and many more (such) stories.”
Relief Bed is now a registered trademark and is in the process of becoming a tax-exempt nonprofit 501(c)3 organization in the United States. Find more information at the recently completed ReliefBed.com website.
