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Shown here (left to right) are Gary Carter, Executive Director of the Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service, Joanne Goldblum, Executive Director of the National Diaper Bank Network, New York City Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito, and New York State Senator Jose M. Serrano. They gathered to mark the donation of 1 million diapers to low-income families throughout northern Manhattan.
Story and photos by Sherry Mazzocchi
Video by Sherry Mazzocchi
Yovanna’s newborn infant Charlie needs frequent changing.
In her neighborhood, a box of 24 diapers costs $18. And they only last two days.
But mothers who can shop online or at big box stores like Costco can buy 84 diapers for $27, less than half the price. Over the course of a year, Yovanna will have spent $1,800 more than she should.
That’s something Joanne Goldblum wants to prevent.
Goldblum, a former social worker, established the National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) so women in low-income households throughout New York City like Yovanna would not have to scrimp on diapers.
As a social worker in New Haven, Connecticut, Goldblum said she saw a lot of families with children making hard choices. She observed many reusing disposable diapers. Some would keep babies in the same diaper all day, or longer.
“I saw them empty solids out and put the diaper back on,” she said this past Mon., Nov. 7th while visiting New York City.
Over the next 12 days, the National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) will donate 1 million diapers, each, in 12 cities.
In New York, the diapers, courtesy of Huggies and Kimberly-Clark Corporation, have been given to Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service in East Harlem, and have been distributed as well at local food banks for distribution to low-income families.
Diapers and other baby supplies like wipes are not covered by federally funded programs like Women, Infants and Children (WIC) or the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program, better known as food stamps.
“Families are put in the really impossible decision of, ‘Do I buy food, or do I buy diapers?’” said Gary S. Carter, executive director of Little Sisters of the Assumption. “No one should have to make that kind of a choice.”
Local stores and bodegas, often the nearest source of such supplies for many families, charge prices that are relatively expensive. One store near the Little Sisters of the Assumption was selling a six-pack of diapers at $13.35; another sold a similar six-pack for 7 dollars. For a mother, or father, caring for a young infant who requires any where from 5-9 diaper changes a day, such costs can prove to be daunting.
Infrequent diaper changes can result in rashes, blisters, oozing sores and infections.
Moreover, families forced to leave a child in dirty diapers for economic reasons probably are not holding or talking with their baby as much as they should, Carter said.
New York State Senator Jose Serrano of the Bronx, who attended the Network’s launch, said he had been surprised that there exists no government program to pay for such critical baby supplies.
“I think this is a major oversight,” he said, and added that his staff would look into the possibility of expanding the program on the state level.
Disposable diapers are convenient, but are not environmentally friendly. An estimated 18 billion end up in landfills each year and take centuries to degrade. Meanwhile, untreated waste can leach into groundwater. While diaper services dispose of waste properly, they are generally criticized for consuming large amounts of water.
Cloth diapers, washed at home, are often cited as the cheapest and most environmentally friendly option.
But most families in low-income households do not have easy access to washing machines. Even if parents could cart a sack of dirty diapers to a laundromat every day, most wouldn’t allow you to wash them, said Goldblum.
“And, on top of that, most daycare facilities require disposable diapers,” she said. “So there’s not an easy way around it.”
Goldblum said access to diapers has a tremendous impact on people’s lives. Not having a diaper can impact the ability to go to work, bring home a full paycheck and buy family necessities.
“That’s the most important thing,” she said.
To hear from Yovanna and those working on providing diapers to her son Charlie and other young children and infants, please visit htt://bit.ly/MT009.
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