Did you know you can’t purchase diapers with food stamps? Diapers are classified with cigarettes, alcohol, and pet food as disallowed purchases. Thank goodness for the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank.
Muriel Smith is the Executive Director at the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank and she joined Jill Devine this week on the podcast. The St. Louis Area Diaper Bank provides diaper access to the region’s low-income families, as well as raises community awareness about the causes and consequences of diaper need. The nonprofit is a member of the National Diaper Bank Network, a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to eliminating diaper need and “period poverty” in America. The St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies (STL APS) – a program created in 2019 by the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank – ensures access to menstrual hygiene products, which allows full participation in daily life with dignity.
To date more than 5.1 million diapers have been distributed in St. Louis including nearly 900,000 diapers during the height of the pandemic. Diapers cost approximately $1,000 per year to keep just one child in diapers, and a donation of $50 to the Diaper Bank provides a child with one month’s worth of diapers.
Here are some other facts you should be aware of:
*The nonprofit’s diapers are purchased directly with donated funds, as well as obtained via local diaper drives and in-kind donations.
*One in three families across the country experiences diaper need, and one in five St. Louis families with children under five lives at or below the poverty line. Since it costs more than $1,000 – approximately $100 per month – to diaper a child for a year, parents who earn minimum wage will spend up to 15% of their take home income on diapers.
*Diaper need impacts the physical, mental, and economic well-being of children and families.
*Infants typically need up to 12 diapers per day, and most childcare centers ask parents to provide diapers. Many parents can’t work or go to school based upon this requirement.
*Cloth diapers may seem like a viable option, but many families either do not have access to laundry facilities at their home or own a vehicle to utilize a laundromat.
*In addition to parents limiting their child’s liquid intake, 64% of Diaper Bank moms report leaving their child in soiled diapers longer than they should to make their supply last.
*Last year two-thirds of low-income women in St. Louis cannot afford menstrual hygiene products, with 46% of low-income women having to choose between food and period products.
msmith@stldiaperbank.org
(314) 624-0888
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