According to the Urban Institute, nearly half of all families across the U.S. with children ages 3 and younger struggle to pay for diapers. Here in South Carolina, a young mom named Ayanna White found herself experiencing that struggle and wanted to find a way to not only help herself, but others as well who were in a similar situation.
In 2015, White created a diaper bank in the Midlands called “Power in Changing,” which now has hubs in Lexington and Kershaw Counties.
In 2024, White’s mother, Nettie Reaties, joined fellow volunteer Rebecca Smith-Hill at StoryCorps to describe the moment that inspired Ayanna to launch her nonprofit, and how it’s helping families across the state.
TRANSCRIPT:
Reaties: She started this program because she had a need. She was a single mom with an 18-month-old baby who was potty training but not quite there yet. And it was the middle of the week, and she needed diapers. And the daycare called and said we need diapers at the daycare center for her daughter, whose name is Amina. Ayanna was like, "Oh gosh, it's middle of the week, paycheck is not due until Friday. I don't have but $10 in my checking account." She was literally thinking about floating a check and then she decided, "Well, I'll call mom, see how much money she's got and see if we can work from there." Between her brother and myself, she was able to have enough money to get diapers and some dinner for her and her two children and also put some gas in her car for the rest of the week. That was the other need, because that's what she was going to use that $10 for. When she decided once that emergency was averted, it was just, "Okay, I need to find out whether or not I'm an anomaly or whether or not this is common." So she did a little research, and during that research, she decided there's a lot of folks—at the time it was one in three, now it's one in two families—suffer from diaper poverty. And because of that, she decided was time to start a diaper bank.
Smith-Hill: In my work as a social worker too, it has helped me to understand that there is no other federal supports to help families purchase diapers. There is technically a little. You could use TANF money, Temporary Aid for Needy Families funding to purchase diapers. But number one, you have to be so below poverty level to actually qualify to receive TANF funds. And then when you do, it's such a small amount of money that that money is used towards rent and other things much more readily. And not much is left over for diapers. So you know, SNAP and WIC are not usable for diapers. So in our country, diaper need, as you just mentioned, is one in two families, which is just appalling and I think unethical and immoral and something that though a lot of people aren't aware of.
Reaties: Exactly.
Smith-Hill: And that's a beautiful thing that I think Ayanna has helped do in this community is raise that awareness.
Reaties: I think diaper banks provide an essential service that is rarely understood. When you think of a diaper, you don't think of mental health issues, you don't think of child abuse issues, you don't think of frustration or distress—
Smith-Hill: —well, and the physical health issues, too, that can come from not changing a diaper enough.
Reaties: Exactly. One diaper can address a multitude of needs.
