Diaper sizes 4–6 most needed. Monetary & Amazon Wish-list Donations also appreciated.
Local Drop-Off Location:
Westbrook Police Department
Westbrook Town Hall
866 Boston Post Road,
Westbrook, CT 06498
Bare Necessities, Inc. was founded in November 2015 as a non-profit organization based in Clinton, CT. In December 2015 our first distribution helped 5 families. By May 2017 we were helping 120 families in Clinton and we are partnering with social service organizations and food pantries along the shoreline. To date we now serve 270 families and have distributed over 396,000 diapers and 809,000 wipes.
Diaper Need Facts:
- 1 in 3 families in the USA have a diaper need. 6 – 12 diapers are needed per day for infants/toddlers at an average cost of $100 per month.
- Diapers and toiletries are not covered under safety net programs such as SNAP (food stamps) or WIC (woman, infants and children).
- CT Poverty Statistics: 38% of children under the age of 3 years old live below the poverty level.
- Statistics show that a pregnant mother will go without food in order to purchase diapers for her child. Having to sacrifice one meal has the same negative effects of taking cocaine. By providing diapers to families in need, we hope that a mother will never have to make this decision.
- Children must have a full day’s worth of disposable diapers to attend even government subsidized daycare.
Not having a full day’s supply of diapers impacts a family in the following ways…
Diaper Need is a Public Health Issue
Parents who cannot afford to provide enough diapers for their child are forced to leave their baby in a soiled diaper longer than is appropriate. This frequently leads to diaper rash and may cause staph infections and urinary tract infections.
Diaper Need is an Education and Employment Issue- Without a day’s worth of disposable diapers, children from low income families cannot attend daycare.
- CT State daycare slots go unused because families cannot afford diapers.
- Children who come from lower income families hear 3 million less words than middle class children by age 4.
- Within an “in need” neighborhood only 1 in every 13 children owns a book.
- In a middle class home every child has at least 13 books.
This is why education through daycare is so important.
Diaper Need is a Maternal Mental Health Issue
Dr. Megan Smith, an assistant professor of Psychiatry at Yale University, has done research on the lifelong impact of how the stressors of diaper need affects families. Her research has brought diaper need to the forefront:
- Not being able to provide diapers for children is the #1 stressor for mothers even over the stress of affording food.
- When families have basic needs, such as diapers, laundry detergent, and feminine hygiene products, it opens more space in the prefrontal cortex to allow for bonding and attachment.
Not having to worry about basic necessities opens economic paths for parents.
“An adequate supply of diapers may prove to be a tangible way of reducing parenting stress and increasing parenting sense of competency, enabling parents to be more sensitive with their children, and thereby improving parenting quality and overall child outcomes,” – Megan Smith, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine
OTHER DIAPER DROP-OFF LOCATIONS:
Clinton Police Department
170 E Main St,
Clinton, CT 06413
(860) 669–0451
Branford Police Department
33 Laurel St,
Branford, CT 06405
(203) 481– 4241
Madison Police Department
9 Campus Dr,
Madison, CT 06443
(203) 245–2721
CT State Police Troop F Westbrook
315 Spencer Plains Rd,
Westbrook, CT 06498
Guilford Police Department
400 Church St,
Guilford, CT 06437
(203) 453-8061