COVID-19 United States Project #23239

#savethebabies: Help Children Rise out of Poverty

by Jake's Network of Hope

#savethebabies: Help Children Rise out of Poverty

Project Report | Oct 16, 2018
We're still growing

By Stephanie Bowers | Project Leader

Pachacutec, Peru- where it all began

Our mission started with a recognized need to get clean diapers to babies across the world so that caregivers would no longer have to choose between food and diapers.

It was simple, and seemed obvious. So, we launched in 2013 with a goal of helping only 15 babies at one orphanage in Peru and have now grown to create a global impact in more than 20 countries.

And we’re still growing.

In 2017 we were honored to make the Top 10 Nonprofits Committed to Impact list on our fundraising platform, GlobalGiving. This year, we’re happy to make the list of the 2018 Top-Rated Charities on Great Nonprofits, a list of organizations rated highly by people who experience their work first hand - clients served, volunteers and donors, as explained on the site.

We’re not going to take all the credit, we really appreciate the support you have given our organization to help us get here, and hope you’ll continue to follow us into the future.

With our increasing impact in mind, we’ve taken some time in 2018 to really define our focus, and would love to share the mission statement that will carry us to growth in the future:

We aim to revolutionize global health with community-driven efforts to provide hygiene necessities that empower people to live clean, healthy and prosperous lives.

Here’s the deal: at Jake’s Diapers, we believe basic hygiene necessities allow people to live clean, healthy and prosperous lives. We support sustainable approaches to meeting this definition of hygiene, and aim to create long-term change for communities to maintain health for all.

Every small step makes a big difference in ending poverty, and we thank you for taking those steps with us.

Thanks for helping babies!

~ Stephanie

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Oct 8, 2018
Diaper Need Awareness Week

By Stephanie Bowers | Project Leader

Pachacutec, Peru- where it all began

Last week was the National Diaper Bank Network’s Diaper Need Awareness Week (September 24-30, 2018), a week dedicated to raising awareness of diaper need: the lack of a sufficient supply of diapers to keep a baby clean, dry, and healthy. As we think about last week, we’d like to pop in with little refresher for you.

Jake’s Diapers started in January 2011, when I had an experience that changed my life forever. I was in Peru, on a mission trip to help kick-start a women’s ministry. We were in Pachacutec, a shanty town north of Lima. Homes were built out of whatever you could find. Average household income was less than $35 USD/month. Never in my life had I seen such poverty, nor so much joy and love. One afternoon, we visited a childcare facility. Little did I know that visit would change the trajectory of my life. What we saw that day was caregivers who loved the children very much, and they were doing the absolute best they could with very limited resources. They were re-using disposable diapers, because what do you do when you have to choose between food & diapers?

Diapers are a need, and over the last seven years we’ve learned so much about how access to diapers and other hygiene necessities empowers people to live clean, healthy and active lives.

What else have we learned? This same story of diaper need is ever present in America, too.

“Fifteen years ago, Joanne Goldblum was visiting clients’ houses as a social worker in New Haven, Connecticut. Her background didn’t prepare her for what she witnessed. … She watched parents take diapers off of their babies, empty the solids out, and put them back on to stretch their supply,” as reported in an article from The Nation.

Peru or America. It doesn’t matter. Parents need diapers, and not all parents can afford this basic hygiene necessity. They struggle every day with financial decisions among basic needs that hold them back from thriving.

It costs a family about $1,000 to afford diapers for one year for a child, The Nation article says. Parents who work a full-time job at minimum wage earn just $15,000 — making diapers a huge expense. What’s worse is that studies find this inability to afford diapers is directly linked to poor mental health for the parents.

One of our core values is poverty knows no geographic bounds. Today, we’re living out this value with Diaper Drops in over twenty countries, including here in our own Eastern Wisconsin backyard.

It's a joy to have you as a proud supporter of Jake's Diapers, it is you that is making the work we do possible. I encourage you to reach me at stephanie@jakesdiapers.org, with any questions you may have. I’d love to hear from you.

~ Stephanie

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Sep 10, 2018
Hope, Dignity, & Confidence for Puerto Rico

By Stephanie Bowers | Project Leader

Iveliz

Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico last September. Now one-year later, power is still spotty and largely dependent on generators. Internet and cell services are back, but only intermittently. Life for residents in Puerto Rico is nowhere near close to normalcy.

Poverty was already widespread throughout the territory before Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 20, 2017.

“Puerto Rico had a very unique situation before Maria. There are a lot of people with a large need and Maria uncovered those realities to the world,” shares Iveliz. Iveliz was born & raised in Puerto Rico, and has years of experience volunteering in humanitarian relief with our Puerto Rico Diaper Drop A.M.A.R. “We still have a lot of communities without power and electricity here - so it’s difficult. Also, [there is a lack of] running and clean water.”

As we approach the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, we want to help Puerto Rico in a big way! Thanks to the Disaster Recovery Network at GlobalGiving, all donations are being matched, dollar for dollar, while matching funds remain. Any gift you make, no matter the size, adds up to big change. That means more diapers, more hope, and more dignity for Puerto Rico!

The good news? Over the course of the last year, your generous gifts have already impacted over 1,000 lives in communities across the territory by providing 12,239 cloth diapers to families and caretakers in need.

That’s not all. You’ve made a strong environmental impact too. The total cloth diapers delivered equals 6,119,500 disposable diapers, preventing over 4 million pounds of diapers from ever entering landfills. (Did you know disposable diapers take over 300 years to decompose?).

But our work continues.

“It’s very, very, very important to keep doing what you are doing right now. It’s peace of mind for those we serve, and so much more.” Iveliz said.

Every dollar makes a difference! Let’s show Puerto Rico we’ve got their backs.

With our thanks,

Stephanie Bowers, Founder & CEO

Links:

Help Puerto Rico Today!

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