There’s never a dull moment at Bottoms Up Diaper Bank.
Starting in 2018 with just one community partner (Bishop Griffin Resource Center) and delivering diapers out of the back of a Prius, Bottoms Up is now using a fleet of five vehicles to deliver more than a million diapers a year to more than 80 community partners in 24 counties.
Then came the World’s Largest Diaper Drive in which the organization has collected more than 3 million donated diapers in the first four years of its existence.
And now a new initiative: potty training kits for families living below the poverty line.
Potty training is a milestone every child must reach, but families living below the poverty line cannot afford enough potty-training supplies or training pants. For these children, something as basic as staying clean and healthy is a struggle.
In central Ohio and other areas, there is a dramatic need for essential potty-training supplies. Families living in poverty often cannot afford the basics, often delaying developmental milestones and creating unnecessary stress.
Frequent moves, overcrowded housing or homelessness create chaos and confusion, making it nearly impossible to establish a stable routine for potty training. Children need consistency, safety, and privacy — things often unattainable for families living in poverty.
Bottoms Up co-founder Jo Welsh says that those living in poverty experience issues that most people can’t imagine.
“Many families live in conditions where bathrooms are shared or simply nonexistent, which makes for a stressful environment for parents and children,” she said. “Potty training becomes even more difficult when a child doesn’t have a safe, private, or hygienic place to go. We hope to have an impact.”
Each kit will include an easy to clean potty seat, progress charts and stickers, a story book for the child, an instructional guide for the parent, and underwear and pull-ups all presented in a tote bag for the parent.
“We hope to empower parents with the knowledge and confidence to guide their children through this important developmental milestone,” Welsh continued. “Our intent is to develop the program in such a way that preserves the dignity of mother and child along the way.”
Distribution of the potty-training kits will entail using existing resources to distribute the kit to a different, more directed partner network. For diaper distribution, Bottoms Up partners primarily with food pantries, domestic abuse shelters, some pregnancy centers and some childcare facilities. For the potty training, they will partner almost exclusively with childcare facilities.
Welsh says that childcare facilities may be more intimately involved with the families they serve and have a better grasp on the child’s development and when it’s time to start potty training.
“All the research we did tells us that when a child is ready to potty train, they’re ready to potty train,” she explained.
Investing in early childhood development has a ripple effect on a child’s future. Success in potty training builds confidence, promotes independence and reduces costs associated with disposable diapers — an expense that disproportionately impacts low-income families.
By making potty training kits available, Bottoms Up is helping families in a small way break the cycle of poverty. Parents save money on diapers and can redirect those funds toward other essentials like food, housing and health care. It also helps reduce diaper need in Ohio, one of the key objectives of Bottoms Up Diaper Bank.
“This organization is dedicated to helping the poor in innovative and imaginative ways,” Welsh said. “The poor deserve our very best and that’s what we try to give them every day. Potty training kits are just one example of that dedication.”
“When you realize that these families are in total survival mode and are just trying to get through one day at a time, I feel like we have to continue to find ways to help.
“Status quo is not acceptable.”
For more information or to help with this program, email Welsh at jo@bottomsup.life.