From a Pillow to a Purpose: The First Rest Well Community Partnership
It Started With a Pillow
One night, while riding through the city, I found myself paying closer attention to the people I saw sleeping on the streets.
Some were lying on hard concrete. Some had pieces of cardboard underneath them. Others were lying on trash bags filled with who knows what, and some had nothing between themselves and the sidewalk at all.
It saddened me.
I kept thinking about how uncomfortable it must be to lay your head down at night without even the smallest source of comfort. No matter what circumstances brought someone to that moment, I couldn't shake one thought:
Everyone deserves a place to rest their head.
That's where the original vision for what would eventually become the Rest Well Project began.
My first idea was simple. I wanted to provide up to 100 brand new pillows to individuals experiencing homelessness in my community. I imagined going directly into the streets, handing out pillows, and offering something that may have seemed small but could provide a little comfort to someone who needed it.
But I also knew I couldn't do it alone.
Rest Well is a founder led initiative, and I knew from the beginning that if this vision was going to grow beyond what I could personally provide, I would need my community to be part of it. My plan was to invite others to donate toward the campaign, contribute pillows, share the mission, and, for those willing, come alongside me as I went into the community to distribute them.
At the time, I thought I knew exactly what Rest Well was supposed to look like.
I thought it was about pillows.
But as I continued to pray about the vision and seek direction for how I should move forward, I began to realize that the pillow was only the beginning.
When the Plan Bean to Shift
Before moving forward with going directly into the streets, I wanted to make sure I was approaching everything responsibily. I spoke with one of my clients who works as a police officer for the city and asked for her advice about distributing pillows and whether there were any permissions or requirements I needed to consider.
During that conversation, she suggested something I hadn't originally considered: partnering with an organization already serving people experiencing homelessness.
That stayed with me.
So I started researching.
I found several organizations whose work caught my attention and spent time learning about each one. I visited their websites, researched the work they were doing, and looked for organizations whose approach aligned with the heart behind Rest Well.
Interestingly, many of the organizations I continued to come across were focused on serving families, women, and women with children. The more it happened, the more intentional it felt.
I reached out through emails and phone calls to the organizations I felt led to contact.
And then.....nothing.
For a while, I didn't hear back.
Instead of forcing something to happen, I decided to pray about it and wait. If this was something God had placed on my heart, I trusted that He would also show me where it was supposed to go.
And eventually, He did.
Finding Our First Community Partner
On a Friday, I received a response from Family Promise of NewRock in Conyers, Georgia, an organization I had contacted about the possibility of partnering with Rest Well.
We scheduled a conversation for the following week, and I was finally able to share the vision.
I told them how Rest Well began. I explained the idea of providing new pillows and asked whether something like that could actually serve the families in their program.
The answer was yes.
Through our conversation, I learned more about how the organization supports families experiencing homelessness as they work toward greater stability and ultimately transition into housing of their own. I also learned that new pillows are part of the support they provide as families enter the home and can even be part of what families take with them as they transition into their next home.
Suddenly, the original idea behind Rest Well had found a place where it could serve a real need.
But there was still more for me to understand.
Seeing the Mission Differently
I was invited to visit the home where families are housed and learn more about the work being done there.
Before I arrived, I prayed and felt strongly that I needed to walk in with an open mind. I didn't want to be so attached to my original idea that I missed an opportunity to serve in a way that was actually needed.
Once I arrived, I had the opportunity to meet the woman leading the organization locally, tour the home, and learn so much about the work they've been doing in the community.
During our time together, I learned that Family Promise of NewRock has been serving families experiencing homelessness in the Rockdale and Newton communities for more that a decade and is part of the larger Family Promise network. What stood out to me was the intentional focux on supporting families and helping them move toward stability and sustainable indpendence.
As she showed me around the home, I learned more about what day to day support actually looks like for the families staying there. The home can accommodate three families, and at the time of my visit, they were preparing the remaining room for another family.
As she began telling me about some of the practival things this incoming family would need to settle in comfortably, someting clicked for me.
This was Rest Well, too.
What it Really Means to Rest Well
Resting well wasn't only about having a pillow underneath your head.
Sometimes resting well means having food available for your family.
Sometimes it means having hygiene products, clean clothes, or the household essentials you need when you're beginning again.
Sometimes it means being able to walk into a temporary home with your children and know that some of your immediate needs have already been taken care of.
And sometimes, rest simply looks like having one less thing to worry about.
That was the moment I realized I didn't want to limit the Rest Wel Project to my original vision. The pillow still matters. In fact, it will always be significant because that is where this entire idea began, but Rest Well could be so much more than pillows.
I wanted this initiative to be able to meet people where they are and respond to the needs that are actually in front of them.
During my visit, I learned that Family Promise of NewRock prefers support through requested items and gift cards rather than cash donations. That allows support to be directed toward the specific needs of the families they are currently serving, whether that means food, hygiene products, clothing, household necessities, or other essentials.
Before leaving, I knew what my first step would be.
I committed to helping support the incoming family with some of the things they would need as they prepared to settle into the home. And that is what eventually led me to Walmart to purchase the gift card you may have seen me sharing on social media.
It was just one gift card.
But to me, it represented something much bigger.
It represented the first tangible step of the Rest Well Project.
And more importantly, it reminded me that making an impact doesn't always have to begin with something huge. Sometimes it begins by simply paying attention to the need in front of you and being willing to help.
Where Rest Well Goes From Here
This is only the beginning.
Family Promise of NewRock is the first communiy partnership for the Rest Well Project, but my hope is that the impact continues to grow. I want Rest Well to remain open to meeting people where they are, whether that means supporting families through trusted community organizations, responding to specific needs, organizing seasonal giving efforts, or one day returning to that original vision of going directly into the community and providing comfort to those sleeping on the streets.
I may not know exactly what every chapter of Rest Well will look like yet, and I'm okay with that.
What I do know is that I want to continue listening, learning, praying, and allowing this initiative to grow according to the needs placed in front of me.
This project started because one night I saw people laying their heads on concrete, cardboard, and whatever they could find, and I couldn't stop thinking about something as simple as a pillow.
Now I understand that helping someone REST WELL can mean so much more.
It can look like a pillow.
It can look like a meal.
It can look like a gift card, a hygiene product, a household necessity, a warm blanket, or support during a season when life has become heavier than expected.
And as the Rest Well Project grows, my hope is that we can continue creating those small moments of relief together.
Because sometimes helping someone rest doesn't mean solving every problem they are facing.
Sometimes it simply means helping carry a little of the weight.
Everyone deserves a place to rest their head.
Janora Davenport
Founder, Nori Beauty & The Rest Well Project
Want to be part of what comes next?
You can support the Rest Well Project through a one time or recurring donation. Every contribution helps us respond to real needs through our community partnerships and future outreach efforts.