‘Diaper Bank’ helps support families in North Carolina

Any parent knows how expensive and necessary it is to buy diapers for their children, but there’s a larger conversation to be had about the very real impact of parents not being able to afford diapers.

Now, there’s help for some families thanks to the Diaper Bank of North Carolina.

Venessa Diaz is a young mom with three kids, but she’s smiling more easily these days knowing what her family has overcome.

When her son Raul was two years old, he was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis. Beyond the emotional and financial stress, Venessa worried how she was going to get enough diapers to cover all of her children.

“It was a lot, and without the diaper bank, I don’t think we would have made it through that time,” Diaz said. “I feel like it really just took a lot of pressure off at a time where we were most vulnerable.”

There’s no government assistance for diapers, and they’re not covered by WIC or food stamps — the cost adds up.

“Families are literally making choices between buying food or buying diapers and every single time, they will choose to feed their children and try to make those diapers lasts as long as they can,” said Michelle Schaefer-Old, the founder of the Diaper Bank of North Carolina. “So we’re seeing babies left in one diaper a day, families rinsing out and reusing diapers.”

Schaefer-Old started the bank in the Durham area in 2013. In 2022, they opened a warehouse in Charlotte.

“People are not aware that the need is there. Because it’s embarrassing to talk about,” she said.

About 76% of the families served by the diaper bank work one to three jobs, and they still can’t afford basic hygiene items like diapers.

Diaz told Channel 9′s Elsa Gillis she wouldn’t have been able to work if she didn’t have a diaper supply to drop off with her child.

“Because if you don’t have diapers there, [day care] won’t take your kid,” she said.

All of these years later, the commitment remains to spreading the word that help is available.

“It comes down to dignity, and dignity should not be a privilege,” Schaefer-Old said.

You can get more information about the Diaper Bank of North Carolina at this link.

(VIDEO: Iredell County organization works with local businesses to provide diapers for struggling families)