Disaster Response Puerto Rico Project #29771

Support Hygiene Needs in Puerto Rico

by Jake's Network of Hope

Project Report | Jan 5, 2018
"Graci, muchas Gracias"

By Stephanie Bowers | Project Leader

Diaper delivery! (see the power lines?)

"Graci, muchas gracias!" ~ Judith

Today was an incredible day. I'm in Puerto Rico, and today we delivered diapers to a children's shelter. At the children's shelter, there are 14 children, aged infant to seven, and they live there. The children either have parents that are imprisoned, or they were removed from abusive homes. The average stay is about eigtheen months. Some of the children return to their parents, and others are adopted by families here in Puerto Rico.

The shelter was a little tricky to find, as the address is not shared to protect the children. We were given the address of a taco shop, and then from there were led to the shelter via special instructions. Getting to the taco shop was also an adventure, as the traffic lights are still not working because power is still not restored from the hurricane.

Judith, a caregiver at the shelter, met us excitedly at the gate. She gave us a tour, and for the safety of the children, we are not allowed to share shelter location or photographs of the childen. When we were there, they were having a special party in celebration of the upcoming Three Kings Holiday. The children were clean, well cared for, and happy.

When Hurricane Maria hit, the shelter was lucky and received little damage. Just a tree on the corner of the roof, and a lot of trees knocked down the play area fence. It's been three months since Hurricane Maria, and the shelter still relies on a generator. The road to the shelter had many broken trees, and power lines just layed on the ground or dangling from trees. They expect to perhaps have power in a few months, maybe by March or April.

The shelter relies on private donations to care for the children, and through your generosity we were able to give them cloth diapers. Judith was so excited and so thankful! Her reaction was pure joy. She's excited not only at the financial savings, but also at the environmental benefit too.

We'll be keeping in contact with her, and look forward to sharing more stories with you!

~ Stephanie

stephanie@jakesdiapers.org

Generator

Play area

Boys' Room

Girls' Room

Baby Room

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Dec 28, 2017
Helping Puerto Rico

By Jonathan Virant | Project Assistant

Diaper Kits in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico continues to be a source of optimism and strength. While the year brought unexpected disasters to the island, these disasters also brought out the best in people, not just of Puerto Rico, but from around the world.

On January 1^st, our very own Executive Director, Stephanie Bowers will be going to Puerto Rico along with Amy Belonger, a Board Member, who visited in October. As Amy, who is trained in disaster response, explained to me, there are different phases when it comes to a crisis. The first two phases, the heroic and the optimism, yield the greatest results. It is the time when the media and surrounding communities are squarely focused on the crisis. The next phase is disillusionment—when the media disappears and other nations begin to move on, but the impact of the crisis hasn’t. When Amy arrived in October, she felt she had entered during the disillusionment phase. From those that had turned to drugs and to those who were preparing to leave the island altogether—Amy and her team met so many incredible people that had started to feel abandoned.

Because of you, we are decreasing feelings of abandonment, and giving hope with each diaper kit distributed. Hope for a better tomorrow, and healing from the Hurricanes.

Now, as Stephanie and Amy prepare to return, there is a good chance that Puerto Rico will still be in the disillusionment phase. But, that’s why your support continues to be so important. By donating money, resources or time, you show Puerto Rico that in fact, surrounding nations and organizations have not forgotten about them and that we are here and with them for the long haul.

Stephanie & Amy will be checking in with our current partner agencies, and meeting with our newest partner: the National Association of Christian Churches Disaster Response. Together, we're working to establish, launch, and operate the Puerto Rico Diaper Bank, with partner agencies in each of the 78 cities. We’ll be distributing diapers and hygiene items to those in need, for years to come. This is the largest endeavor in our history here at Jake’s Diapers, and we need your help to keep the babies of Puerto Rico clean, dry, and healthy.

Though Stephanie and Amy have the energy of 100 people, we always can use more help. The help we’ve received this far is amazing and we can’t thank you enough. Every additional donation means more diapers, more hope, more recovery.

Would you consider joining our “Diaper-of-the-Month Club” by becoming a monthly donor? A gift of $17 each month will provide a complete set of cloth diapers to one child each year. Join us here.

If you have any questions or want to hear more, please don’t hesitate to contact Stephanie at stephanie@jakesdiapers.org. With it being the holiday season, now is the perfect time to get involved.

Thank you!

Jonathan Virant

Project Assistant

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Dec 12, 2017
So Excited... So Scared... So Blessed...

By Stephanie Bowers | Project Leader

Our work in Puerto Rico has taken an exciting turn... a great leap forward! Earlier this week, we were finally able to have a long conversation with Alysha. Alysha is a loving Mom to two children, and she runs one of our partner agencies in Puerto Rico. After 64 long days, she now has electricity! For 64 days, the only electricity they had was via generator, which makes living (and outside communications) a challenge.

When we spoke with her, she had just delivered 17 cloth diaper kits and had a trunk full more to deliver. Diapers are such a desperate, yet overlooked need. Federal disaster relief programs (along with WIC and food stamps) do not cover diapers. This is where we come in, and why the work you are making possible is so important. Alysha spoke of the joy of recipients and how much cloth diapers mean to them.

Puerto Rico is slowly starting to heal, and sadly people are starting to forget about Puerto Rico while so much devastation still remains. But not you & I. We're in it for the long haul. And this is where it gets EVEN MORE EXCITING. We are expanding our work in Puerto Rico to help establish the Puerto Rico Diaper Bank. This means... a partner agency in EVERY CITY (all 78!) to distribute diapers & feminine hygiene items to struggling families.

This is an incredible task, and we're working with the National Association of Christian Churches to make this happen. I can't believe that in a few weeks Amy & I will be in Puerto Rico, evaluating how we can best help the people of Puerto Rico for the long haul. I've never been so excited (and scared!).

I really can not thank you enough for your prayers & support. It is an incredible gift you are giving the people of Puerto Rico. A gift of basic sanitation, hygiene, hope & joy. I encourage you to reach me at stephanie@jakesdiapers.org with any questions. I'd love to hear from you.

~ Stephanie Bowers

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