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Community Impact Report WestSide Baby's 2021 Annual Report

Our Mission

WestSide Baby, in partnership with our community, provides essential items to local children in need by collecting and distributing diapers, clothing, and equipment.

Our Vision

WestSide Baby envisions a day when each child is equipped with the basic items they need to grow into healthy, happy and resilient members of our community.

Commitment to Equity

In service of our mission and this vision, we recognize there are structural inequities that cause the basic needs gap to disproportionately affect communities of color. WestSide Baby operates with the fundamental belief that every child born deserves to have their basic needs met and that unmet basic needs are one important contributing factor to the disparities in health and well-being for children and families of color. When children’s basic needs are met, family resilience is strengthened, and our communities are healthier and happier.

Letter from Executive Director, Sarah Cody Roth

In the last 21 years, WestSide Baby has provided over $33 MILLION worth of basic need items to families all over Western King County. Every one of these items represents a child’s basic needs being met.

We are proud to provide immediate relief to families with the dignity and care they deserve, and to do so on a meaningful scale.

As a “resource broker” we focus on distributing the tangible items to a large network of partner organizations rooted in their communities; when we provide the diapers, car seats, pack n plays and clothing, our partners can care for a family’s needs holistically. While we must meet immediate needs, we won’t ever close the gap without advocating for a safety net that ensures every child’s basic needs are met.

I am deeply touched by the absolute beauty we get to witness when a family knows they’ll have enough diapers to send their baby to daycare so they can go to work. But I also ache knowing that for so many families, that relief is indeed temporary and uncertain.

Our vision cannot become reality without all of us reaching for it together, without a deep shared longing for a more beautiful and just world where getting ALL of our basic needs met becomes a basic human right.

I am excited to hear from you after you review our 2021 Community Impact Report and welcome you to reach out anytime.

In gratitude, Sarah Cody Roth

Summer 2022

WestSide Baby’s Impact in Numbers

  • In 2021, we served 30,494 children ages 0-12 and distributed $1.4 million worth of items including clothing, diapers, car seats, and more. To compare, we served 4,000 children in 2006.
  • In 2021, we distributed 1,612 car seats. With our modified distribution and item collection focused on highly requested items, we were able to fill 96% of all car seat requests in comparison to 78% in 2019.
  • In 2021, we distributed 314 safe sleep options including cribs, pack n plays and bassinets.
  • In 2021, we distributed 30,000 hygiene items thanks to our focused distribution and collection efforts on most needed items such as wipes, baby soap, and diaper cream.

Diapers

In 2021, we distributed 2.5 million diapers – 100,000 more than at the height of the pandemic. Over the past 2+ years, we have responded in a crisis by increasing our distribution of diapers by over 60% to a growing network of partner organizations providing critical care to our community. In just the last 4 months, we have brought on 31 new partnerships with direct services organizations serving families experiencing unmet basic need.

Before the pandemic began, we already knew about 1 in 4 families in King County were experiencing diaper need, and we know certain communities are disproportionately impacted by diaper need and by this public health crisis due to racist structures including housing, government aid, and education. Black caregivers and Latinx caregivers are over 2x as likely to experience diaper need. Families living in South King County and LGBTQ families are also experiencing significantly higher rates of diaper need.

Over the last year, WestSide Baby has continued to use this data to focus our distribution efforts of equitably serving our community. Because when we know that in some communities, well over 30% of caregivers are having to make hard decisions between buying diapers on a limited income, or groceries for the week – it is clear how important access to diapers are when talking about basics in the home.

As we continue to center Black babies, Indigenous babies, and babies of color in our vision, we center the communities that have been denied access to basic needs due to systemic racism. Your support allows us to look forward to our vision for 2021 and beyond.

Support our mission through monthly donations:

Community Support

In 2021, you & the community continued to show up for WestSide Baby and children experiencing unmet need. You hosted 89 diaper drives, often using our online wish list, and you donated 420,000 diapers!

Advocacy in Action

WestSide Baby envisions a more just, more beautiful world – where each family’s dignity is honored by ensuring every child’s needs are met. We are boldly reaching toward that vision by bridging the chasm between what families need, and what they can actually access. We’re distributing millions of essential items to meet more of the immediate need than ever before, while we successfully advocate for a social safety net that honors diapers as essential.

During the fall and winter of 2021, WestSide Baby spearheaded the End Diaper Need Act with the state Legislature to increase the amount of cash assistance families with small children receive through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). We are so excited to help strengthen the social safety net for families to access the essentials they need. Thank you to those who joined in support – this historic legislation passed in March 2022!

2021 Evaluation Update

Throughout the year, we distributed items to direct service workers from 123 agencies and 204 programs around King County. Our partners span multiple disciplines and social service sectors including public health, social work, food security, domestic violence, early learning, infant mental health, and more.

In late 2021, we made one-time bulk distributions to over 50 new organizations and programs to offer over 500,000 diapers to underserved communities. This initiative enabled us to establish new relationships with community-based organizations and provide resources to families who have not previously had access to a diaper bank.

WestSide Baby believes in the power of family resilience and the benefits of fostering positive support networks for families, thus our evaluation process is designed to help us understand the ways in which our work impacts the overall well-being of families experiencing economic hardship.

WestSide Baby’s mission and vision is powered by so many people in our community! We are grateful for the hundreds of families, businesses and organizations who invest in our work to provide equitable basic needs access for babies and children.

Thank you to our generous Giving Circle Members:

  • Nishat Akhter
  • Janet & Zuned Ali
  • Shana & Dave Allen
  • Scotti Andrews & Paul Tonella
  • Michele & Jeff Andrus
  • Valerie Barrs-O'Mara
  • Devorah & Carlo Bertucci
  • Becky Bicknell & Matthew Taylor
  • Canto Family Charitable Fund
  • Shirley Carlson & Dow Constantine
  • Ashley Seffernick & Mel Carson
  • Sarah & Joshua Chadd
  • Kathy Clayton
  • Sarah Cody Roth & Tristan Roth
  • Aileen Cronin & Todd Shirley
  • Libby Cunningham & Mike O'Leary
  • Mary Ellen Cunningham & Matt Dressler
  • Allison Curd-Entzminger & Mike Entzminger
  • Kate Daly & Frank Blanchette
  • Amy Daly-Donovan & Jim Donovan
  • Krista Davis
  • Katy Eberle
  • Erika Pettersen & Bandar El-Eita
  • Stephanie & Steve Fischer
  • Grace & Javier Fosado
  • EmilyRose Frasca
  • Carol McClure Frillman & Lou Frillman
  • Shelley Gaddie & Kim Valenzano
  • Catherine & James Gannon
  • Stephanie Garrido
  • Chelsea Globe & Bill Kallio
  • Patti Goertzen & Steve Wald
  • Leah Graybill
  • Alexis & Collin Greene
  • Dayra Haugo
  • Cause Haun & Gang Chen
  • Lisa & Ed Hewson
  • Anne & Clarence Higuera
  • Meghan & Mark Hogan
  • Dawn & Jess Holbrook
  • Jenn Inglin
  • Phoebe & Ray Ingraham
  • Kamila & Patrick Kennedy
  • The Keppler Family
  • Rayna & Kordell Kubo
  • Teresa Lawson
  • Liz & Mike Ledbetter
  • Dena & Ron Levine
  • Helen & Benjamin Lundell
  • Nicole Lutomski
  • Kavita & Walker Malling
  • Shikher & Sonali Mathur
  • Michael Mattmiller
  • Erin Hulme Oceguera
  • Jennifer Patterson
  • Nick Peyton & Alexandra Adame
  • Darcey Quinn
  • Carolyn Radakovich
  • Diane & John Redenbaugh
  • Katie Reece
  • Lauren & Brian Richards
  • Katie Ryan Strimban & Michael Strimban
  • Mai Russell & Chris Krejci
  • Jodi Ryznar
  • Carina & Scott Schubert
  • Molly & Glenn Seaverns
  • Nancy J. Smith
  • Heidi & Chris Stolte
  • Arpita Swami
  • Allison Tennant
  • Lauren & Matthew Tomala
  • Katie & Brian Tucker
  • Angela Wallis
  • Katy & Erik Walum
  • Rebecca Ward & Neal Suggs
  • Valeria Wayne
  • Bryan Wiebe
  • Sara Williams & Kevin Foreman
  • Katherine Wilson
  • Nancy & Tim Woodland
  • Patsy Wosepka
  • Beth & Clint Wright
  • LauraLeigh Young & Jim Penney

Thank you for keeping children safe, warm and dry!

WestSide Baby, in partnership with our community, provides essential items to local children in need by collecting and distributing diapers, clothing and equipment.
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WestSide Baby
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