A Different Kind of Bank Comes to Austin: The Austin Diaper Bank
Families barely making ends meet often don’t have enough money to buy diapers for their children. Did you know that federal assistance programs like SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a.k.a. food stamps) and WIC (Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children) do not include diapers in the costs covered? If you've ever bought diapers, you know they cost a lot, especially over the course of a month or a year.
Although other cities in the US have agencies that focus on dispensing diapers to people in need, the Austin Diaper Bank (ADB) is the first of its kind in Austin and was only established in June 2013. During its brief existence, some 70,000 diapers (for children and adults) have been distributed to social services agencies in the Austin area.
It’s estimated that almost one quarter of the children in Travis County are living in poverty. And over the past decade, the poverty rate for seniors living in the area has gone up an astonishing 42 percent, and it’s only expected to continue upwards. To compare to state and national statistics, according to a United Way report in 2013, “…the child poverty rate in Texas (27%) is higher than the overall US rate (23%). The Travis County child poverty rate (24%) has also climbed above the US rate.”
Partnering with local social services agencies like SafePlace, Austin LifeCare, Asian Family Support Services of Austin (formerly SAHELI), AGE (Austin Groups for the Elderly), Hope Alliance and HAND (Helping the Aging, Need and Disabled), ABD provides diapers for those social services agencies to distribute to their clientele for free.
The people in need aren’t just families or individuals with children. Picture this: You’re an elderly adult, you can barely eke out a living on your fixed income, and the price of adult diapers has gone up, not to mention the overall cost of living. It doesn’t take statistics to figure out likely immediate outcomes for this scenario: reclusiveness, depression, and overall decline in both physical and mental health. Thankfully, ADB also takes donations of adult diapers to share with partnering agencies.
The relatively new organization has already been lauded with awards, including one from Austin Monthly in their “Best of the City 2013: Business & City Life,” which cited ADB under the New Charity category.
Some may ask, “But what about cloth diapers?” There are two problems with cloth. First, day care will usually only accept a child if the parent provides disposable diapers for each day of care. Additionally, it’s not guaranteed that recipients will have access to adequate laundry facilities where they can actually launder a cloth diaper properly. ADB does, however, provide cloth diapers to those who can use them.
ADB is participating in a new recycling initiative in partnership with TerraCycle. There are seven drop-off locations in the Austin area (including Round Rock and Pflugerville), where people can drop off diaper packaging, as well as baby wipe packaging. You do not have to be a client of any of the partnering agencies to drop off packaging for recycling. All recyclable material collected at these locations is sent to TerraCycle for processing and ADB is credited. This effort helps to lighten the load of plastics at landfills and translates into more dollars for ADB.
The next time you have an extra 12 dollars in your pocket, consider making a donation to the Austin Diaper Bank. You could help a fellow Austinite with something essential: a week’s worth of diapers.
Mark Your Calendar
June 21, 2014 – Austin Diaper Bank and Round Rock Express are partnering during this game. Use code DIAPER when buying your tickets to the game online, and you’ll receive a discount. Even better, ADB will receive $3 for each ticket sold. Look for ADB at the kiosk behind home plate at Dell Diamond that day, where they’ll be handing out promotional items and information too.
Learn More
Austin Diaper Bank – www.austindiapers.org
National Diaper Bank Network - www.diaperbanknetwork.org