Babies of Homelessness
No red tape. No waitlist. Child's Needs Our Top Priority.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
According to King County Public Health, more than 39,200 young children (ages 0-4) are living in poverty in King County. The greater need for parents, even more than food security, is providing enough diapers for their children, according to a study from the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). These children are who we want to serve. These children live in your cities, and we know you want to help them. The cost of diapering all King County children currently living in poverty (ages 0-4) until they are potty trained will take $77 million. Think of that! One diaper bank (or all of them) cannot bear the ongoing financial cost alone. This massive public health issue requires coordinated efforts. Plus, we need funding from city, state and federal sources.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Direct Service
Families experiencing homelessness–living in cars, tent cities, encampments, tiny homes, motels, shelters, RVs, or couch surfing–call our intake line and place an order of diapers, wipes and formula in preferred sizes and brands. Outreach volunteers drive to the family and deliver the order within 72-hours, depending on the urgency.
Partner Distribution
We supply bulk quantities of diapers, wipes and formula through community partner agencies because clients needing help with diapers have other needs. Each month, case managers submit orders for diapers, wipes and formulas in requested sizes and brands using a user-friendly electronic form. Our paid full-time operations manager pulls inventory from the warehouse, loads the van and drops off bulk inventory quantities to each partner agency. Case managers then distribute inventory to their clients. Our easy ordering process, bulk quantity, and direct service allow case managers to focus on delivering top-notch case management without worrying about how to procure diapers, submit long weekly orders, or pick up diapers. Check out our partners here: https://www.babiesofhomelessness.org/program-partnerships/
Mobile-Pickup Service
Three times a month, families pick up a box of diapers, package of wipes and can of formula at one of three bus-accessible locations in Everett, Bellevue or Renton. Clients call our intake line in advance to place an order.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of organizational partners
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
- Improve access to basic necessities such as diapers, wipes and formula.
- Improve the health and wellbeing of children and families as a result of our services.
- Expanding our reach to underserved rural and historically disadvantaged communities serving high percentages of BIPOC and immigrant and refugee families.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Most diaper banks distribute diapers directly to clients or partner agencies. Our diaper bank offers three programs to easily and quickly access services: direct service, partner distribution and mobile service.
We created a robust delivery model that:
- remedies accessibility barriers (i.e., long waitlists, receiving an inadequate quantity of diapers, embarrassing intake processes and lack of transportation to access diapers);
- limits unnecessary duplication of services reduces administrative expenses and works collaboratively to solve a basic human need at the community level;
- sets families up to succeed because we provide a 30-day supply of diapers to each child on an ongoing basis versus the 25 diapers other diaper banks provide per child every 30-days.
When it comes to procurement, we source inventory in two ways: in-kind donations or purchased. Babies of Homelessness staff, volunteers and community members host online and in-person donation drives throughout the year. We collect and store inventory at a 2400 sq footage Bellevue facility with a loading dock, forklift, and a 53-foot truck. The Operations Manager places wholesale orders at discounted prices for diapers we still need, enabling us to stretch donor dollars for maximal impact. We also partner with companies like Ridwell and Parasol to receive hundreds of thousands of free diapers.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Babies of Homelessness operates under the thoughtful guidance and direction of a volunteer Board of Directors, a staff of 3 full-time employees, 4 contractors and 42 volunteers.
We measure impact using a Salesforce key performance indicators (KPI) dashboard. Some of the programmatic metrics we record include the number of diapers distributed, the number of children and families served based on zip code or agency, the number of intake calls, volunteer hours, and more. Twice a year, we also collect qualitative information such as testimonials via surveys and interviews. We also conduct an annual formal program evaluation with a social science firm to measure family health, well-being and workforce participation outcomes as a result of our programs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Last year, three full-time staff, four contractors and twenty-five volunteers served 5173 children through three programs. In the first three months of 2022, we served 60% of last year's total number of children and distributed 40% more diapers. We are well on our way to delivering one million diapers this year compared to the previous year's 300,000 diapers.
As families in King County continue to confront diaper need, we plan to expand our diaper bank by 40% by 2023. We have identified 22 other agencies (currently NOT being served by any other diaper bank) needing diaper support, but we need the funding.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Families experiencing homelessness and families in low-income households with children ages 0 to 5 years of age.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Designing and Executing a Mobile Pick-Up Service at 3 Bus Accessible Locations, 2x a month each month
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is hard to come up with good questions to ask people, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Babies of Homelessness
Board of directorsas of 5/11/2022
Angela Harmon
Babies of Homelessness
Star Lalario
Sotheby's
Timmy Woods
Microsoft
Emily O'Hara
Technoserve
David Wilson
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Deanna Powell
Fidelity
Cindy Kitts
Retired, REI
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 05/10/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.