A DIFFERENT KIND OF BANK
By Chris Wadsworth
Diaper commercials often feature doe-eyed babies cooing and happy toddlers in “pull-ups” dancing or playing – while a smiling mom and dad look on. It’s a beautiful image and for many families it’s a sweet reality. But not for all families.
Low-income families often struggle to afford diapers which many people are surprised to learn aren’t covered by government assistance programs such as SNAP and WIC.
That’s where the NOVA Diaper Bank steps in.
“One in two families in this country has diaper needs, and there are absolutely families in Loudoun County and western Fairfax that have diaper needs,” said Kaycee Childress, the president of the NOVA Diaper Bank.
The bank is a nonprofit based here in Ashburn that distributes about 20,000 diapers a month to families in need in Loudoun and western Fairfax County. Since its founding in 2017, the bank has handed out more than 1.4 million diapers.
Considering the American Academy of Pediatrics says a child can go through 3,000 diapers in his or her first year alone, and up to 8,000 by the time they are fully potty trained – it’s easy to see how that can be a huge expense and create real problems for families with a limited budget.
“It was very stressful looking for the basic needs,” said Barby Vasquez, a mother of two from Herndon. She once was down on her luck and needed help with items like diapers for her youngest daughter.
“I lost my job, and it just happened to be at the same time that my husband lost hours at his job,” Vasquez said. “I was struggling for a long time … and then when I would get those diapers, it was a weight off my shoulders.”
Vasquez got her daughter’s diapers from the NOVA Diaper Bank through the She Believes in Me nonprofit in Herndon that works with young people experiencing various types of traumas, including domestic violence and homelessness. Today, she is CEO of She Believes in Me and says the diapers that come from the NOVA Diaper Bank are life-changing.
“It’s such a blessing,” she said. “Many people are struggling just to buy food, so being able to provide them with something like diapers – it’s just so important.”
The NOVA Diaper Bank – founded by Brambleton resident Susan Mullen – accepts individual and corporate donations of both funds and actual diapers. The nonprofit also applies for grants. This year’s goal is $60,000 in grant funding. The diapers are stored at a warehouse in Ashburn as well as at Mullen’s house, who still serves as the bank’s treasurer and helps run the operation. From there, diapers are distributed through local schools as well as via partner organizations in the community.
The impacts of not having access to diapers for a child can be damaging in many ways to a young family.
“The health impacts are one of the biggest things we see – children get yeast infections, they get bleeding diaper rash, they get urinary tract infections,” Childress said. “We’ve actually had parents who would try to dry out diapers and put them back on their child because they didn’t have enough diapers.”
There are financial impacts too.
“There are people who work at the grocery store, at the fast-food restaurants, who work in retail jobs or in construction jobs. They are often trying to balance paying their rent or getting diapers,” Childress explained. “They can’t send their kids to daycare without a supply of disposable diapers. If they can’t send their children to daycare, they can’t work and they get farther and farther behind.”
Recently, the NOVA Diaper Bank has expanded its offerings by accepting donations of adult diapers as well.
“Many seniors and adults with disabilities experience financial hardships and struggle to find incontinence supplies – which are just as essential for health and dignity,” Childress said.
K.C. LeBlanc is a registered nurse and director of client support services at the Leesburg-based charity Mobile Hope. She and her colleagues have seen this need firsthand. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they were inundated with requests for adult diapers from elderly residents in the area as well as people with disabled family members.
“We have a family in Sterling that comes to us that has a little girl. I think she is 13,” LeBlanc said. “They can’t use something made for a baby, so the small women’s adult diapers are really very important to them.”
The Mobile Hope team estimates that children and adult diapers can cost some families up to $800 a month, so the diaper bank’s work is having a major impact – potentially even keeping some families from becoming homeless.
Now in its ninth year, the all-volunteer team at the NOVA Diaper Bank says their goals are simple – grow and serve more people. They want to raise awareness of the need, raise more funds through donations and grants, distribute more diapers and reach more families in need.
“The need is actually growing,” Childress said. “Wages are not keeping up with inflation, and more and more people are needing support. Every time we diaper a baby, we hope that means that a family has money to buy food or pay their rent or keep their power on.”
For more information on the NOVA Diaper Bank and how to support its efforts to help families in need, visit novadiaperbank.org.