The Bottom Line: July 2019

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Hello!  

It has been said time flies when you’re having fun, and we’re sure having a lot of fun! I can hardly believe we’ve only been at Hope Factory, our new warehouse home, for just over six months. I’d like to take a moment to reflect on how much of an impact your support has had in our communities. Because of your helping hand, in the last six months we’ve accomplished: 

  • Over 500 volunteer visits
  • Countless FedEx & Semi-Truck pickups & deliveries
  • Dignity distributed through diapers for all ages & period products to our four unique program areas
    • Eastern Wisconsin Diaper Bank Initiative1,000 kids/month receiving diapers (cloth & single use)
      • Serving over 500 women & girls each month with period products
      • A.C.E. Initiative (Adult Care Essentials) serving over 300 persons/month
    • National Cloth Network Initiative
      • Over 500 children have received complete supplies of cloth diapers to last from birth to potty training
    • Puerto Rico Diaper Bank Initiative
      • Hundreds of children & friends with special needs have received complete supplies of cloth diapers
    • Jake’s Global Network 
      • Now serving over 20 Diaper Drops with cloth diapers, meaning thousands of children are now clean, dry, & healthy year after year. So far, over 1,500 children, many with special needs, have received cloth diapers this year. 

Thank you for making the work we do possible. It is such a joy to see how far we’ve come, and to plan for an even more exciting future as we work to solve diaper need & end period poverty. I encourage you to reach me at [email protected], I’d love to hear from you.  ~ Stephanie Stephanie Bowers, Executive Director & Co-Founder

News from Around the World   

“We were all stuck, just stuck.”

Shortly before Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina September 2018, Alicia had packed her family and whatever essential belongings they could decide in a matter of hours, to travel to stay with her parents in Tennessee.   Read the rest of Alicia’s story here. 

Things have always been tough for many in Puerto Rico, with poverty affecting nearly half the population (the current rate is 43.5 percent).

Since Hurricane Maria hit in 2017, many in the U.S. territory saw their lives take a downward turn.

Like one Puerto Rico family we heard from recently. The mother told us her son is autistic, has schizophrenia and ADHD — and that Hurricane Maria was life-changing for them. Read the rest of the story here. 

Welcoming Danny “Being able to be a part of something like this everyday is such a gift. Being able to see God do some amazing transformations in so many babies, kids, and young adults never gets old. This never gets old” ~ Director of SCH Read Danny’s story here.

Warehouse Wishes We’re on a mission to make Hope Factory a warm, welcoming place for our volunteers. We’ve created an Amazon Wishlist if you feel led to give in this way. Our most needed item is a lockbox for a spare key. This is because our main door has the ability to self-lock and if we’re not paying attention, we lock ourselves out. We’d like a backup so Katie doesn’t have to rescue Stephanie again (and again…). 

Yes! I’ll be the Lockbox Hero! 

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Jake’s Diapers
1775 Bohm Drive
Little Chute, WI 54140V