Build-a-Bed
A free 20-hour woodworking class where participants build their own new bed frames. Graduates receive their handmade bed frame, a new mattress, and a mattress encasement.
Classes of 4 students work together over the course of 3 days, learning 20 new skills and getting to know each other as they collaborate to build their new beds. The beds they build are a testament to their ability to learn new skills, collaborate with each other, and create something of beauty and value.
DAY ONE
Thursdays
1:00pm – 5:00pm
Students meet each other and work as a team to build the major component of their headboards.
TOOLS & SKILLS
- Selecting and handling lumber
- Sanding by hand
- Wood glue
- Nail gun
DAY TWO
Mondays
9:00am – 5:30pm
Students complete their headboards and footboards, including applying the first coat of polyurethane finish.
TOOLS & SKILLS
- Power drill
- Socket wrench
- Power sanding
- Painting with polyurethane
DAY THREE
Tuesdays
9:00am – 5:30pm
Students build siderails and slats, and finish their beds with wood fill, caulk, and a final coat of polyurethane.
TOOLS & SKILLS
- Hand gouge
- Edge router
- Clamps
- Wood fill
- Caulking

“I thought I couldn’t do it, but now I feel like I can do anything.”
– SELAM, PROGRAM GRADUATE
See our team in action:
OUR PROGRAMS
Build-a-Bed
Pop-Up Garden
Stewardship Team
Healthy Neighborhoods
Property Health Report
Buy a bed,
Give a bed.
When you buy a Healthy Homeworks bed, you give someone who needs one the chance to build their own in our Build-a-Bed program in Lewiston’s Pepperell Mill.
When you buy a Healthy Homeworks bed, you give someone who needs one the chance to build their own in our Build-a-Bed program in Lewiston’s Pepperell Mill.