Inland NW Baby

Vital Stats

Jesse S

Veradale, WA

people helped1145
People Doing It 75

The Problem

There is no Federal, state, or local financial support for diaper/hygiene items or clothing. My project is to develop an awareness in my local community about this issue, and move community members to action. I have learned that 1 in 3 moms is having difficulty diapering their child in this current economic time. Parents must have diapers in order to take their child to daycare. No diapers, no daycare, no income. It is a heartbreaking cycle.

Plan of Action

My plan is to develop a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to procure diapers, hygiene items and new/gently used clothing and make these items available to existing social service agencies. By partnering with agencies, rather than providing direct service to families, I feel I can stay focused on generating awareness of the need and gathering community support. To generate donations and community awareness I have held a diaper drive which gathered almost 15,000 diapers. I have spoken to an elementary school of 600 students and other groups like mom's groups. I have developed and am maintaining a website which promotes our events and community activities. Since August 2010, I have helped gather enough diapers to provide for 750 children, clothes for over 300 children, toys for a holiday shopping program of needy children, and maternity clothes for teen moms. Our program allows these teen moms to stay in school and complete high school while taking care of their child. We are serving over 50 of these teen moms. My project/organization is also being developed to be an inclusive volunteer opportunity. Volunteers as young as 5 years old and volunteers of all abilities are welcome. We are now serving children in over 3 different counties in my area.