As we enter the National Diaper Bank Network’s Diaper Need Awareness Week (September 24-30, 2018), we wanted to pop in with little refresher for you.

Jake’s Diapers started in January 2011, when the founder participated in a mission trip to Peru and visited an orphanage that was re-using disposable diapers as a way to cut costs and afford other basic necessities.

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.

Jake’s Diapers is a member of the National Diaper Bank Network and coordinates with other diaper banks across the country to address chronic hygiene needs and emergency situations, such as when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last September.

Want to help? Here are a few ways that you can take action