Moms Helping Moms Foundation Inc

Moms Helping Moms Foundation (MHM) is a baby supply, diaper and period supply bank dedicated to creating a future without childhood poverty by providing babies with the essentials to ensure a safe and healthy start.

Diaper need is the lack of a sufficient supply of diapers to keep an infant or child clean, dry, and healthy. One in three families in the US with infants and toddlers have insufficient access to diapers (Randles, 2022). Moreover, diapers are not subsidized by any federal or state assistance programs like WIC or SNAP. Worse yet, leading manufacturers implemented a major cost increase of approximately 20% on diapers between 2021-2022 (NielsenIQ, 2022).
Providing diapers to an underserved child reduces household financial burden and allows money to be put towards other basic necessities such as housing, food, and utilities. Diapers are often a requirement for parents to access childcare and go to work, as they are often required provide their own diapers. Underserved parents are more likely to keep their children in a diaper longer than intended or use larger diapers to save money.
Menstrual health and hygiene have also recently been recognized as a globally recognized public health topic. Study findings have indicated that many young women cannot afford menstrual health products to meet their monthly needs and experience “period poverty.”
An insufficient supply of diapers and menstrual products can have negative social, physical, and economic implications for family well-being. Despite advances in awareness of the need for these essential items, the gap in equitable access continues to grow. MHM is addressing and attempting to close this gap. Over the last 12 years, MHM has established itself as a leading provider of baby supplies and period products in New Jersey.
MHM distributed 834,538 diapers in 2022 (up 52% from 2021 and up 311% in five years) to 128,549 underserved individuals in New Jersey. We distributed 136,345 period products in 2033 (up 29% from 2021).

MHM has five programs to help us achieve our mission of providing underserved families in New Jersey with equitable access to the essentials they need to provide their children with a safe and healthy start.

1. HEALTHY START FOR BABIES PROGRAM
MHM distributes critical essentials to 100,000+ individuals per year, including 800,000+ diapers per year. Essentials include diapers, wipes, clothes, shoes, blankets, hygiene items, pack n plays, strollers, and more.

2. HEALTHY PERIODS
MHM officially began collecting and distributing period supplies on October 19, 2019, which was the first National Period Day. Our clients are offered these period items alongside our other items like diapers, safety supplies, and clothing.

3. EARLY LITERACY PROGRAM
MHM knows the importance of helping children develop the tools they need to become successful readers and lifelong learners. These skills allow a young child to enter school with a love of books and a readiness to learn.
With every diaper distribution, we ensure that each child we serve receives at least one book. We also distribute literature in English and Spanish to parents/caregivers on the importance of early reading, counting, talking, and singing with children. We accept donations of new or gently used books for children ages 0-5.

4. SAFE START
In 2021 MHM began distributing brand new car seats to our families. In our two years, we have given out 200 new car seats. We look forward to expanding this program as infants cannot leave the hospital without a car seat and we are seeing an increase in demand for this essential item.

5. ADVOCACY PROGRAM
MHM engages in advocacy and awareness-building efforts related to diaper need and period poverty. We organize diaper and period product drives in our local communities to highlight the importance of these issues and encourage people to donate diapers or dollars to make an impact. We also participate in Diaper Need Awareness Week and Period Poverty Awareness Week each year to help bring awareness to the community and state and local governments.

* WE CAN DO THIS CAMPAIGN
MHM is participating in We Can Do This, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s COVID-19 Public Education Campaign to get accurate information about COVID vaccines into communities.

MHM has a unique and highly efficient process for collecting and distributing new and donated items. Essential items (diapers, wipes, hygiene items, clothing, books, strollers, highchairs, nursing supplies and period supplies are donated by members of the community and some corporate donations through our memberships with the National Diaper Bank Network, The Alliance for Period Supplies, and Baby2Baby. We regularly engage the community to support our efforts through diaper and period supply drives, community events, and volunteer opportunities.

Every donated item is checked for cleanliness, quality, and usability. Open packs of diapers are re-packaged rather than thrown away. We estimate that over 90% of all donated items find a new home rather than being thrown away, helping us achieve a goal of nearly zero waste. The large and capable volunteer pool we have assembled, and our efficient operation allow us to meet needs “on demand” for agencies with storage limitations. We distribute bulk orders to 80+ community partners that serve New Jersey families and also fulfill requests for smaller, client-specific donations directly to individuals on an as-needed basis.

MHM was founded in 2011 by Bridget Cutler. The organization started modestly with a few moms distributing items directly to a hundred or so families out of her garage. In 2013, we received nonprofit status. In 2016, we moved into our first warehouse. In 2018, we officially began building our network of community service partner agencies (domestic violence shelters, daycare centers, health centers, food banks, etc.) which now includes over 80 partners. In 2019, we moved into a larger warehouse to accommodate the massive distribution growth that we had experienced, with our total item distribution quintupling from 2017–2022.
In recognition of her dedication to the cause, Ms. Cutler was named a CNN Hero in 2014, received the New Jersey State Governor’s Jefferson Award in the Founders/Innovators Category in 2018, and was awarded a Russ Berrie Making a Difference award in 2019. In 2020, MHM received regional and national press coverage of our response to the pandemic and ability to serve the 274% increase in diaper need that resulted since early 2020. Over the past 12 years the simple concept of “moms helping moms” has transformed into a rapidly growing nonprofit consisting of passionate, caring, like-minded staff, volunteers, and supporters who collectively help tens of thousands of New Jersey families access the items they need for their children to thrive: diapers, wipes, clothing, books, safety items, period supplies and more.
MHM distributed 834,538 diapers in 2022 (up 52% from 2021 and up 311% in five years) to 128,549 underserved individuals in New Jersey (up 27% from 2021 and up 568% in five years).