FurnishHopeDC has outfitted more than 900 homes since it launched five years ago; in the past three years, Sweet is responsible for more than half of the homes the organization has served. She donates at least 10 twin beds, including mattresses and frames, per month to the charity, and has purchased more than 400 bedding bags, which each cost more than $200. Inside these bags are duvets or comforters, covers, sheet sets, pillow cases, pillows, squishmallows (for kids’ beds), and throws. Sweet also donates new, high-end beauty products, toys, and kitchen pots and pans, but most of her energy goes into bedding. “The sheets that she gives us, I swear, are higher quality than the sheets I sleep on,” says Mock.
Sweet’s focus on bedding is not random or merely a reflection of her personal obsession. The CEO, who grew up in a working-class household in California, sees bedding—and a good night’s sleep—as “critical for adults and kids to be able to be successful,” she told Fortune. A lovely, inviting bed, she said, gives people “a place of refuge each day.”
“[O]ften these families live in cramped quarters, and the only place they can call their own is their bed,” Sweet explained in an email. “Having a good quality bed allows them to sleep better, which is so important for health and being able to have a positive mindset and the strength to do the very hard things they must do.”
Sweet shops online for bedding to donate and keeps an eye out for sales, Mock explains. “When she sees one, she calls and says, ‘How many of these would you like?’” When President Trump revealed his tariff plans, Sweet got in touch, wondering what she should buy before tariffs pushed prices higher.
The CEO is the only donor who always gives the organization brand new sheets, and the only one selecting prints featuring unicorns, cars, and rocket ships for children, and lush colors for adults. “I can tell she really enjoys that part, picking out the different designs and then imagining what child is getting what,” Mock says. “I have no idea when she has time to do this, because each bag is different.”
The nonprofit fields messages from Sweet at all hours of the day, even when it’s 2 or 3 a.m. in the timezone where Sweet is traveling.
Mock says she and her partner Adriane Herbert sometimes have to explain to people how to use a duvet and duvet cover, because they haven’t had one before, and she has had to convince Sweet to stop including dust ruffles, which can allow bed bugs, mice, and cockroaches to travel too easily.
Every time Mock is there to see a new bed put together, she snaps a photo and sends it to Sweet to show the real person on the receiving end.
“This is so much better than getting money,” says Mock. “She’s putting her time, effort, and obviously, money into it, but it’s really her heart and soul.”
