It can be a challenge to raise children, even with a partner alongside you - yet 13.7 million parents in the United States are going it alone, according to a 2009 census data.
While conversations around the issue of single parenthood result in mixed answers about its impact on poverty, in Brown County we know one thing is true: poverty more greatly affects young women with children.
Between 2009 and 2013, 45% of those in poverty in Brown county were women under 24 with children, according to Beth Hudak of the House of Hope in Green Bay. House of Hope is one of Jake’s Diapers community partners, through our Eastern Wisconsin Diaper Bank initiative. House of Hope aims to “provide a safe and stable environment where young parents and children experiencing homelessness will become confident, independent, and successful members of our community.”
House of Hope offers temporary shelter units where women can stay with their children while the organization helps each family on their way towards self-sustainability, through education, access to medical and mental health services and other support programs. The women typically stay anywhere between 65 and 80 days, and House of Hope stays in touch afterward to support the family with ongoing needs to maintain financial stability.
House of Hope is currently under an expansion to address the overwhelming need of those mothers under 24 struggling with poverty in Brown County. Beth said the program will expand from offering 13 units for mothers and children to soon have a total of 27. House of Hope often has mother’s sitting on a waitlist for their services, and they hope the expansion with shift that reality.
“We hope that 27 units will alleviate the waitlist completely, the goal in going to a size that large is that so no child has to be homeless in Brown County,” she said.
As House of Hope serves more people, our partnership means we’ll have a wider audience to serve, too. There are no federal safety net programs that cover the cost of diapers, including WIC or food stamps. We're proud to stand in the diaper gap to help solve House of Hope's diaper needs.
~ Stephanie
There’s a lot of things we have to wait for in life, but diapers should not be one of them.
At Jake’s Diapers, we continue to grow our list of partners in an effort to reduce the number of caregivers on waiting lists for access to basic needs that fuel quality of life.
One of our newest partners is House of Hope Green Bay, Inc., a nonprofit that serves homeless families throughout Brown County.
“We provide approximately 12,000 diapers to 300 individuals each year,” said Beth Hudak, Community Engagement Manager with the nonprofit. “House of Hope adds between 15 to 20 new families experiencing homelessness and housing instability to its waiting list each month.”
Fifteen to twenty families! Just think of the impact we can have on a monthly basis as this program gets rolling.
What’s more, according to United Way’s ALICE study, 40% of families in Brown County struggle to afford the basics of housing, food, healthcare, childcare, and transportation. This equates to more than 4,000 children aged 3 and under whose caregivers struggle to provide enough diapers to keep them clean, dry, and healthy.
There are so many lives to impact locally, and we are excited to join hands with House of Hope to make this happen.
“We are looking forward to beginning our partnership with Jake's Diapers,” Hudak said. “Diaper insecurity is a problem across all of Northeastern Wisconsin.”
We're really excited to begin this partnership as we expand our impact in the Greater Green Bay area.
Thanks for helping babies!
~ Stephanie
P.S. Did you know today, September 12th, is Bonus Day at GlobalGiving? This means every donation will go even farther to wiping out diaper need!
Wow. Since January of this year, 53,250 diapers have been distributed to babies in Green Bay.
Almost 8% of those receiving diapers are currently experiencing or recently experienced a medical crisis, including:
4% of diaper recipients are active duty military members or veterans
Our community partner Family & Childcare Resources has also seen recipients who experienced situational poverty because of a house fire. Additionally, 8 recipients are refugees from Thailand and several more are experiencing homelessness. That's not all. Working parents, both single and married who are struggling to make ends meet have received diapers.
The common thread among all our recipients is they are living in poverty, and trying to work their way out. And they all appreciate the helping hand you have provided.
"Thank you for helping me out so much at this time. I am homeless. So I do appreciate the help very much!"
"Thank you! It (the diapers) helped while on maternity leave."
"A large amount of debt from childbirth went to collections, so we're trying to pay that down"
"Thank you so much! My boyfriend doesn't have a job & I've had four surgeries in the last five months & so I haven't been able to work as much. You are a life saver."
Thanks for helping babies!
~ Stephanie
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"The diapers have been so helpful to our family. Thank you all!" ~ Green Bay Diaper Recipient
When we think of basic needs, we tend to think of food, clothing, shelter, and water. Unless there's a person in your life who relies on diapers, diapers tend to be overlooked. But not you! You have done an amazing thing by supporting our work in Green Bay.
Right now, we have one active community partner, Family & Childcare Resources of Northeastern Wisconsin (FCRNEW). We've been providing them with diapers every month for four months now. The impact of diapers is so much more than a diaper, and our recipient surveys are verifying this fact!
For our recipients through FCRNEW, the top impact of diapers is making children happier. Over half of our recipients report this as the most important benefit of receiving diapers. As a Mom myself, being able to change a diaper as needed definetely kept my littles happier! The second most important benefit reported is the reduction of stress. Unhappy babies definetely can increase stress levels, and with happier babies, it is nice to hear stress levels are following suit and declining. The third most common impact is the ability to buy food.
With the success we are seeing at FCRNEW, we are preparing to expand and add on additional community partners. Would you consider sharing our story with a friend or perhaps becoming a monthly donor? Just $13 a month provides a supplemental supply of diapers to one Green Bay baby.
Thanks for helping babies!
~ Stephanie
Links:
And so it begins!
I'm excited to share with you that we have now officially launched our pilot project with Family & Childcare Resources of NEW! This pilot project is our first big leap into helping a substantial number of children in poverty, in the Greater Green Bay area. Did you know there are 1,561 children, aged 3 & under, that live in homes at or below Federal Poverty Level in Brown County? This is a problem, and we're on a mission to solve it!
This pilot project will diaper 50 babies, with either a supplemental supply of disposable diapers, or a complete supply of cloth diapers. Our friends at Starry Realty recently held a Diaper Drive, and last night was the Diaper Packing Party! Together, we packed 15,625 diapers into packs ready for distribution. This is over half the need for our Pilot Project, which is an amazing way to kick it off!
That's not all...
We have more big news to share... We've been named one of GlobalGiving's Top 10 Nonprofits commited to Impact! You'll find us at number 5 on the list!
This inaugural list highlights 10 of GlobalGiving's nonprofit partners (and five honorable mentions) that have demonstrated a commitment to impact through learning. Winners have earned the most points in GG Rewards, GlobalGiving's way of tracking how nonprofits Listen, Act, Learn. Repeat. GlobalGiving has found that nonprofits that listen to their stakeholders, act on what they hear, and learn from the results of their actions are more effective and have a greater impact in their communities.
This is a great moment for us, we're proud to be recognized for our commitment to effectiveness and impact.
Thank you for believing in us, together we are ending the choice between food & diapers! I encourage you to help us celebrate, and share our story with friends, family, & colleagues who might like to join us in making the world a better place. I can be reached at stephanie@jakesdiapers.org with any questions. I'd love to hear from you.
~ Stephanie
Links:
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