So many among us don’t have a memory of sleeping in our own bed for the first time. For many of us, this experience feels like a given, and we easily forget what life might be like without this. However, some people haven’t been so lucky in life, like a little boy in Detroit
8-year-old Daeyr couldn’t contain his emotions seeing the new bed, which was just for him and his gratefulness for such a small luxury is something we should always remember.
Accordingly, Daeyr Neely from Detroit has seen a lot of tough days in such a short life. Recently, this little boy made waves after his reaction to finding out he has a bed of his own went viral!
Daeyr had been homeless since he was a toddler. In a turn of events when he was 2 years old, his mother lost her job and subsequently their house. After many years of homelessness, the boy’s family moved into a shelter in Detroit. The plan was to eventually receive public housing assistance from the city, but it was a long journey there.
Moving into the shelter was a rough transition for the family, especially for little Daeyr. “He started to have a little trouble in school, once we moved to the shelter. But I explained to him that we had to do this in order to get our own home,” his mother recalls.
After years of struggle, it seemed like the family’s luck was finally changing. They finally moved into a house of their own. Unfortunately, while they did have a house they still had to make do without a lot of essentials. One of these essentials was a bed for little Daeyr, after they moved into the house for months the little boy slept on a pile of blankets.
To help lighten this burden, a nonprofit got involved.
Humble Design is a nonprofit that works to end homeless in several cities throughout the country. They heard about the Neely’s struggles and knew that a major way to help this family settle into their new home was by providing the furniture.
They gathered furniture pieces from the community and helped decorate the space; make the house finally feel like a home!
It can be seen from the video that Daeyr finally sees his room which has been transformed by the team. His eyes land on his bed, the very first he has had in years and even in the video you can see his immediate excitement as his eyes widen and his jaw drops!
After realizing that the bed is all his, Daeyr covers his face with his hands overwhelmed with emotion. After that, he turns around the hug the person nearest to him and breaks out in full sobs!
An adult in the background can be heard talking about how the little boy has had to make do without so much that the prospect of having a bed all to himself is overwhelming him!
In addition to the bed, Daeyr has also received a lot of nice toys and other furniture to decorate his room. With their housing situation more sorted, his mom Dionna will now be able to focus on nursing school and making a better life for her and her son!
