Hope Diaper Pantry client with her children.
Some take buses and then walk a number of blocks. Others pile into cars with cousins, sisters, grandmothers and aunts to drive more than an hour from far-flung areas in Dallas County. A few arrive by Uber. No matter what the transportation challenges, making a monthly trek to Hope Supply Co. Crystal Charity Ball Hope Diaper Pantry is worth it for families lacking the essential items needed to care for their babies.
Glendy has been a client of the Hope Supply Co. (HSC) Diaper Pantry since May and has come every month since. She relies on the DART service that orders her an Uber to get around, but sometimes that means waiting for more than 30 minutes for a ride—not an easy wait with 16-month and 8-year-old daughters in tow. But Glendy figures it out since the diapers, wipes and hygiene items are such big necessities for the baby.
Through a generous grant from the Crystal Charity Ball, doors opened to the Diaper Pantry for the first time in January 2023. In October alone the Diaper Pantry distributed nearly 30,000 diapers. That’s in addition to the 262,000 diapers Hope Supply Co. provides, on average, through partner agencies each month.
“The idea for the Diaper Pantry is a simple one, but oh, so important,” says Barbara Johnson, CEO of HSC. “Even though most of our outreach is through our 50 partner agencies, being able to offer direct services is very helpful to many clients, and honestly, a joy to us,” she explains.
Ami Cheek, Office and Development Manager, agrees. “I love babies. I love holding the babies, but I have also come to see that just offering my lap to a child is also a great gift to a mom or a dad or a grandparent. I can give them a few moments of relief by just taking the baby for a little bit as they fill out our forms.”
Requirements for receiving diapers and other items from the pantry are minimal. According to Laura Montalvo, Program Manager, “We just require proof of need, which could be documentation that the family is enrolled in WIC, or they're receiving SNAP benefits or three pay stubs to demonstrate they qualify through guidelines set up by SNAP.”
Families learn about the HSC Pantry primarily through word-of-mouth or by referral from other agencies. In addition to a monthly supply of diapers, each new family receives a hygiene kit that includes shampoo, baby wash, wipes and lotion. “They can come once a month for as long as the baby is in diapers. We go up to diaper size 6 and we also have training pants,” Laura explains.
“We are open for diaper distribution by appointment or walk-in on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to about 3 p.m. In October we saw 385 families,” she says.
“There are generally three kinds of challenges that bring families to the Diaper Pantry,” Laura observes. “The first kind is chronic poverty. For various reasons some parents are just unable to have a job, or the children are being raised by a grandparent with very limited income.” This is the most common situation seen at HSC but not the only one.
Secondly, families come to the pantry when life just gets tough, income drops unexpectedly and they just need a lifeline. One single mom who came by was working as a nurse and just learned she was pregnant with her second child while the first was still just a toddler. She was facing a temporary strain on her finances, and she needed help to get through that stage.
Laura tells of another mother who came in for the first time recently. “She was completely new to the program, so while I helped her fill out the form for diapers, she asked if we knew of services that may be able to house her and her children. She was on the verge of eviction, unable to pay her rent now that her husband was out of the picture. She took a day off from work to visit as many places as possible to try and make sure they didn’t end up on the streets, but she faced an uphill climb. She held back tears as she told me her story but was very strong, letting us know that it was a big help to not have to worry about diapers, wipes and hygiene items while she tried to reset life for her and her children.”
Finally, a third situation that brings families to HSC is recent immigration. Families arrive from countries like Mexico, Honduras or Venezuela with virtually no resources. HSC is able to help them with essential items for their babies while they are getting settled.
In addition to diapers and other basic items, staff with the Diaper Pantry help families connect with other agencies in the area that provide food or housing assistance. The Pantry also has a limited amount of clothing and toys to distribute.
And then there are little extra ways the Diaper Pantry can serve families, as Ami relates: “There was a woman who came in last May who had just had a baby. She was overwhelmed and anxious. When, in addition to diapers, I gave her a Mother's Day present, she just started bawling. She was so touched that we cared about her, not just her child. It was just one of those instances when everyone had given so much attention to the baby, but no one had stopped to ask the mother, ‘How are you doing?’”
As its first year draws to a close, the Diaper Pantry has clearly proven it meets the needs of families on many different levels. “The Pantry gives us an opportunity to not only distribute diapers, but also affirm human dignity and value,” Barbara explains.