Where do the diapers go?

Published: Mar. 14, 2023 at 5:57 PM PDT
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RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Here at the Diaper Bank, located in the Women and Children’s Center of the Sierra, wipes and diapers are stacked according to size. They are available to clients who are typically referred by another agency or clinic.

Once they arrive a couple of things are required.

“Bring an ID. We don’t care if it’s from Oklahoma or Mars, or anywhere in between, it can be expired,” says Pam Russell with the Women and Children’s Center of the Sierra. “We just need an I.D. The second thing we need to have the baby’s birth confirmation you get from the hospital. Or birth certificate. And if the person doesn’t have that we’ll be able to help them reach out and get it.”

Clients can receive diapers twice a month.

But if they participate in a Mommy Program, they can receive diapers once a week. Call it a carrot approach only using diapers. Clients say initially clients come here for a diaper and wipe pickup.

Russell says the moms are exposed to other services that can prove beneficial to the mother and her children.

“They do the intake we help with resources we have,” says Russell. “And then women attending our classes; we’ve got English as a second language, computer literacy taught in Spanish a support group for moms, financial literacy all sorts of things.”

Diana Antunez has daughter Darla with her, but she has a son at home. And she’s expecting a third baby. Referred here by her pediatrician, she says this place is about more than diapers.

“If I am being honest with you, this place rally really helpful,” says Antunez. “In so many ways. They help you with so many things, just really helpful, really comforting. They ask you and ask you, do you need this? They don’t just say here are diapers and that’s it. No.”