November is National Adoption Month. It’s important to take a moment and consider the youth in the world who find themselves alone.

It may not be obvious, but it’s true: The work we and our Diaper Drop partners do is sometimes aimed at preventing orphan situations. Keeping families together – now that’s important!

“We acknowledge that too many children who are orphaned in this world are disconnected from their biological family who love them, but find themselves unable to support their needs,” said Lydia of Sarah’s Covenant Homes in India. “We pray that we can step into the role of preventing abandonment and facilitating reunification, when appropriate, by providing the necessary support a family requires to sustain themselves.”

Sarah’s Covenant Homes is one of Jake’s Diapers Diaper Drop partners. The nonprofit childcare organization actively responds to and prevents the abandonment of children with disabilities in India by providing holistic care in family-style homes. The organization has seven homes spread throughout two cities: Ongole and Hyderabad and cares for more than 130 children and young adults.

SCH brings children into its care from the government orphanages where they are placed after abandonment.

“Across India, we see that children are not getting what they need in the state- and government-run orphanages, as these institutions are oftentimes underfunded, understaffed and unable to attend to the needs of each child,” Lydia said. “Children with disabilities are at increased risk to have their needs overlooked. Additionally, all children in orphanages, especially those with disabilities and medical conditions, generally experience diminished health, and sometimes these situations can quickly turn critical when they are not receiving appropriate care.”

The organization’s focus for the child is to find his or her family and work towards developing a relationship so that the child can be placed in the home again. When this doesn’t work out, SCH does connect with other agencies to aid in adoptions, both locally and internationally.

All of these efforts, of course, take a variety of financial and other resources, and so SCH has found a relationship with Jake’s Diapers vital to sustaining its cause.

“Jake’s Diapers have helped our organization in such important ways,” Lydia said. “The primary benefit to having reusable diapers is that we no longer have to pay for disposable diapers, which is quite a financial relief for our organization. … We are better able to spend donations and contributions on things that provide a lasting impact on the lives of our children rather than one-use items.”

Please consider a donation to support an abandoned child in need. Just $18 can supply the diaper need for one child for a month.