Founded in 2009, the mission of Help a Mother Out is "to improve baby and family well being by increasing access to diapers for families in need."
Why diapers? They're expensive! An average baby will go through 10,000 diapers in their early years and at a cost of $80-100 per month, that's out of reach for many low income families. Keeping a child in dirty diapers for extended periods of time can lead to health issues and without a supply of clean diapers, your child won't be allowed to attend most child care programs.
Help a Mother Out distributes diapers through a network of social service partners. This includes family resource centers, homeless and foster children services, public health departments and facilitated parent support groups. Most of these groups are in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area but there are also partners in other locations in California and one in Austin, Texas. You can see the complete list here.
In the 10 years they've been operating, Help a Mother Out has provided over 9 million diapers! This short video explains how the San Francisco Diaper Bank works. Families who qualify for CalWorks, have children under 3 years old and are SF residents can pick up six packages of diapers per month.
Social workers report being able to provide diapers to their clients lowers their anxiety and financial stress. It also helps the social workers build trust and enables them to start discussing and offering other resources to their clients. You can read some testimonials here.
If you'd like to support the work of this organization, there are many ways to get involved. You can donate money, donate diapers, host a diaper drive or join a diaper sorting and distribution event. You can also like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @helpamotherout. Happy Mother's Day!
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