Health & Fitness
Homeless Family Receives Bunk-Beds from Student Wood Workers
Students dedicate project to a family in need.
Yesterday, six Wood Working II students and one inspired teacher at Montville Township High School [MTHS] changed the lives of a single mom and her two children.
Three months ago, the six weren’t sure what to build next. Teacher, Donald Morgenroth, suggested a group project.
Upon hearing Morgenroth’s proposal, a set of bunk beds that would be donated to a homeless shelter, the three juniors, two sophomores and one senior enthusiastically joined forces to complete the task before the end of the school year.
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Though ambitious, with six skilled carpenters on task, Morgenroth was certain the team could reach its goal.
Together they located plans for an adjustable bed, which could be reconfigured to fit against different walls and adapt to different rooms.
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Morgenroth asked the students to consider altering the plans to incorporate a desk.
“I felt it needed a point of learning,” Morgenroth explained. “An opportunity to study.”
The students, Steve Angelini, Thomas Bauer, Ricky DeBiasi, Rob Jackson, Joe Markel, and Corey Mazzucco, along with Morgenroth, donated the finished project to Family Promise of Morris County.
Host Site Coordinator, Lori Wilson, accepted the donation on the behalf of Family Promise.
“We are so grateful,” Wilson said. “This is so beautifully done.”
The bed will be given to siblings who are three and seven years-old. The children and their mom are scheduled to transition into a two bedroom apartment. There, they will share a room.
“I really like the desk,” Wilson added.
According to a study recently conducted for the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, homelessness in Morris County, New Jersey is up 12% over last year.
“We have a waiting list at all times,” Wilson explained.
She noted that homeless families seeking help arrive at Family Promise with few possessions, and none of those items include furniture.
“I would like to make this an annual assignment,” Morgenroth said about the bed project.
“That would be awesome,” Wilson stated.
Family Promise of Morris County is a non-profit. The organization’s motto is “Ending homelessness one family at a time.”
The MTHS bed project is one step in helping to make an apartment a home.
