INDIANAPOLIS — A new state-funded service project aims to get diapers into the hands of impoverished parents. Advocates hope it will improve infant health and provide indirect financial aid to the state’s neediest.
The Indiana Diaper Bank, based in central Indiana, will helm the 2-year, $4 million project, which will distribute 200 diapers every other month to qualifying families.
“We know this is probably not enough. It sounds like a lot of money but diapers are not cheap,” Ashley Burns, the president and CEO of the Indiana Diaper Bank told the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Burns reported that her small nonprofit had quadrupled the number of diapers it distributed in the last year — from 30,000 in May 2022 to 171,000 in May of 2023 — signifying the ongoing and outstanding need.
“… Our hope is that it’s the beginning,” Burns continued. “And we can really collect that data and say, (to legislators), ‘This has a big impact… (on) employment and maternal mental health. This is one thing that we can do.’
“A diaper seems like such a simple thing but it’s so meaningful for families that are struggling to provide this basic need.”
Burns warned that launching the project would take time — especially since her staff of two full-time employees (including herself) and three part-time employees would be tasked with personally distributing the toiletries, which includes wipes and other diapering needs.
Products would be dispensed in the parking lots of various Women, Infant and Children (WIC) offices, providing a direct connection to hundreds of Indiana residents whose gross monthly income is at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level — or $6,250 for a family of four — which is the cutoff for eligibility.
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