#savethebabies: Help Children Rise out of Poverty

"Alone we can do so little. Together, we can do so much." - Helen Keller

When COVID-19 hit locally in March, we accelerated our mission to help vulnerable populations struggling with financial decisions between food and other basic needs. 

There are so many families struggling right now to buy essential products - like diapers, period products and adult care essentials - for their families. We knew these people would need extra help and care to circumvent the pandemic that would disproportionally affect people living in poverty.

We are so grateful for new supporters of our cause as we come together to help our community get through this time. Because of your support, we were able to ....

• Give more than 85,000 diapers to babies in need.
• Distribute a total 313,665 essential hygiene products to people in need.
• Help 7,054 people because of those distributions.

This impact doesn't even count May, yet!

Check out the included link for the full COVID-19 impact report to find out just how many diapers and babies that breaks down to, and learn more about the work that has kept us busy these last two months.

Links:

• COVID-19 April Report

As we continue with daily life while abiding by best practices to avoid COVID-19 spread, we’re all experiencing major shifts in communication. Instead of gatherings with family and friends, many have turned to technology to stay safe and connected.

This shift has also created a lot of change for many of our nonprofit partners who serve the basic needs of low income populations. 

For example, at the Winnebago County Health Department Public Health Supervisor Alana Erickson said all communications have shifted virtually, and WIC participants are being referred to 2-1-1 resources if in need of items not provided via those benefits. 

In Oconto County, our partners at Kingdom Come say drive-thru operations add a layer of difficulty to providing supplies that families need. For example, Belinda of Kingdom Come said she regularly spoke with families about diaper need when they would come in to pick up their supplies – something that isn’t happening right now.

“The biggest struggle is not hearing from our clients. Because we are serving more families, and the drive-thru style of food distribution does not lend itself to time to talk, we were not able to discuss particular client needs or changes to this first diaper distribution. (Typically) clients would talk to me about size changes or problem-solving based on our available products,” she said. “That is disrupted now, and will be increasingly disrupted with each month we continue to need to limit and control spacial contact with our clients.”

Belinda said hopes to be able to make assumptions about diaper size needs based on what she knows about the child, but at the end of the day right now is about just adapting to get by and make things work.

Links:

• COVID-19 Response Report