2014 Grantee of the Women’s Fund
Nearly 6 million babies in the United States three years of age or younger are living in low-income families. Public resources such as food stamps and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program do not provide diapers. Without a sufficient supply of diapers, parents are forced to keep babies in diapers longer than is healthy for the child; sometimes diapers are reused. Healthy Steps Diaper Bank, established in July 2013, collects, stores, and helps distribute free diapers to families in need through partner agencies. Healthy Steps, the only diaper bank in the Greater Harrisburg Area, is on a mission to address diaper need by providing a sufficient supply of disposable diapers to keep babies and toddlers, clean, dry and healthy.
In 2014, Healthy Steps Diaper Bank received a $2,000 grant from the Women’s Fund for diaper need and proper diapering awareness. Healthy Steps Diaper Bank provides diapers to women’s shelters and family service agencies throughout Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry, and Franklin counties. Case managers at partner agencies identify diaper needs for their clients and order diapers from Healthy Steps on a bi-weekly basis. Diaper orders are based on the Department of Health recommended daily diaper usage for specific ages, and the order for each child is based on the amount of diapers needed to supplement what the mother can supply on her own. Healthy Steps Diaper Bank also provides training on “Proper Diapering” to educate mothers on the importance of frequent changing.
For more information on Healthy Steps Diaper Bank, visit www.healthystepsdiaperbank.com.
About the Women’s Fund
The Women’s Fund mission is to broaden awareness of and response to issues affecting women and girls through the power of collective philanthropy in South Central Pennsylvania counties of Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon and Perry. Part of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC), the Women’s Fund reflects TFEC’s commitment to grow and adapt to meet the changing needs of the communities that it serves, while reflecting the basic mission of its founding in 1920, which is to preserve and increase resources so that future generations will have the means to address and solve societal challenges.
The Women’s Fund funding priorities include advancing the lives of girls and women by providing opportunities to develop economic self-sufficiency, providing health programs for women and girls, and promoting the education of women and girls. Organizations must serve women and girls in the South Central PA counties of Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Lebanon, Perry, and the Dillsburg Area. The Women’s Fund grants once a year with the deadline in early October. Click here for more information on this and other grant opportunities available through TFEC.
