They don’t give out diapers directly to clients, they are a depository that collects and stores diapers in bulk that are then distribute to 40 organizations in Greene County and another 28 in rural counties that give out the diapers directly to clients. These organizations often server one community, a neighborhood, a town, or one county. A bank serves a larger area (this one covers a quarter of Missouri’s counties) supplying large quantities of diapers, about 6,000 each month, to dozens of organizations whom then serve hundreds of families.
WHY ARE DIAPERS NEEDED?
• There are no government programs that help cover the cost of diapers.
About 48% of families report a delay in changing diapers.
• About 32% of families report reusing diapers (from “In Short Supply,” a study commissioned by Feeding America, 2013).
• Many childcare centers require a supply of diapers daily, without daycare a parent cannot work.
• Babies who spend a day or longer in one diaper risk potential health problems, such as skin rashes and infections.
• Diaper need is more distressing to moms than not having enough food for the family (from Huggie’s Every Little Bottom Study).
• Mothers report feelings of guilt and depression because of a lack of diapers.
• Babies who do not have enough diaper changes become irritable and cry more.
• A cranky baby in a stressed family situation may lead to an increased risk for situations of domestic abuse, child abuse, and neglect.
Cloth Diaper Program Outline
• The mission of the cloth diaper program at the Diaper Bank of the Ozarks is to share an alternative way of diapering with those in need. Through education, support, and assistance we can promote health and financial responsibility.
We are a cloth diaper lending service designed to help families with the beginning startup cost of using cloth diapers; we are not a diaper service. We lend the diapers to the parents/guardians and they are responsible to do the washing themselves. Our intentions is for families to use our cloth diapers and to take the money they would have spent on disposables diapers to buy their own cloth diapers, making themselves diaper independent within a few months. There are no fees to the loan applicants.
We receive all kinds of new and used diaper donations that are then lent out and we buy diapers for the lowest bulk prices we find, due to this what each family receives will vary based on our inventory and the family’s diaper need. Our goal is for each family to receive 5 covers, 18 prefolds, 1 wet bag, and 3 flat diapers. On average this will get families through 3 days’ worth of diapers. The verity of diapers also allows families to try a few different styles and brands before they buy to help them find what will work best for their family.
Applicants are required to take an educational class before receiving diapers from us. This helps the families succeed in using the cloth diapers and helps insure that our cloth diapers are not damaged while out on loan. We offer classes at multiple locations, partnering with organizations’ at allow us to use their space
Our loan program is on a month to month open communication plan, meaning that we require each family with a loan to communicate with us once a month to continue the loan program. This allows us to insure the families are using the loaned diapers and the family is using them without issues. This also opens a direct line to allow the families to ask questions, and lets us collect data to help future loan applicants. And this does not put pressure of a time limit on the families.
We offer monthly support groups to help connect families with fellow peers that are using cloth diapers. This gives benefits such as access to information from people who have more experience using cloth diapers, and therefore have valuable insight to offer; Keep the applicant families “in the know” about news and opportunities pertaining to our organization, our partners and other community resources. Attendees will also find fulfillment in helping others, and help expand attendees’ social life helping them to establish a network of caring friends.
We need help: To extend our cloth diaper program and meet the demand of families that desire to start saving money by using cloth diapers but are unable to afford the startup cost we need to reach out with our educational classes and loan program. We would be willing to come to your location speak to a group to help spread awareness of our program and/or to teach a class on cloth diapers for families that would like to apply. We are also looking to local agencies to provide locations to host support groups, host diaper drives, and advertised our program.