As a mother of two, Lisa Truong’s heart went out to the moms in her community who couldn’t provide for their babies. So she founded Help a Mother Out to provide free diapers and help all mothers feel supported!

They give diapers—and hope— to new moms in need!

What can I do to make an impact on women struggling like this in the San Francisco Bay Area? The question echoed in Lisa Truong’s mind as she watched an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show about homeless families.

In 2009, Lisa was on maternity leave and at home caring for her new baby and her preschooler, when Oprah challenged her audience with a question that made Lisa think: “What can you do in your own community to help families?” she asked. Lisa’s heart stirred, and she felt moved to take action.

The next week, Lisa enjoyed a mom’s night out with a friend, Rachel, and they realized Mother’s Day was coming up in just a few weeks.

“We have everything we need to care for our babies,” Lisa said with gratitude. “We are so blessed. How can we give back?”

Since their kids were regularly outgrowing their clothes and toys, Lisa and Rachel initially thought they could do a clothing and toy drive. But when they contacted social-service organizations, they quickly learned that the greatest need for moms with babies wasn’t clothes or toys, it was diapers!

“Let’s do a diaper drive for Mother’s Day!” the duo decided, and got right to work organizing the event.

Meeting mothers’ needs

To get the drive going, Lisa and Rachel asked businesses to place donation bins in their stores and encouraged people to give new moms diapers instead of flowers or chocolates. “This is meeting a real need,” Lisa said after collecting 15,000 diapers that year.

Before long, they decided to make their mission official by launching the Oakland-based nonprofit called Help a Mother Out (HelpAMotherOut.org), which provides diapers and training pants for low-income mothers with children up to age 3.

As Lisa and Rachel served more mothers in need, they also began learning about the suffering and worry many moms endure when they don’t have access to diapers. One worker at a food pantry told Lisa about a mother who came in looking for diapers and said, “I’ve unfortunately felt forced to start giving my child less to drink so I don’t have to change her diapers as often. It makes me feel terrible!”

One mother broke Lisa’s heart when she shared that she had been arrested and went to jail for shoplifting diapers, and her child had to go into foster care.

Some women even told Lisa about the great lengths they would go to in order to provide for their children—often putting themselves in harm’s way—if it weren’t for their diaper program.

Making lives better

We have to keep this going! Lisa thought with tears in her eyes, vowing to do whatever it took to continue providing. Before long, she began looking for more ways to help fill the diaper need. Help a Mother Out partnered with Stanford-affiliated Gardner Packard Children’s Health Center to help keep babies dry, healthy and happy, while preventing bladder infections.

“Programs like this help relieve the stress that parents and caregivers face when they want to provide but simply aren’t able to due to a lack of resources,” says Dr. Janine Bruce, Associate Director for the Office of Child Health Equity and a scholar in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford School of Medicine. “This impacts the overall well-being of children and reduces stress among caregivers.”

And the impact is felt by each relieved mother. “People don’t understand how bad I feel when I don’t have enough money to buy a bag of diapers for my kids who are relying on me,” one mother says. “That’s why I’m so grateful for Help a Mother Out.”

Today, Help a Mother Out provides an average of 9 million diapers each year—giving out more than 13 million during its busiest year.

Lisa tells her team that every case of diapers they give out changes a life. “A mom is able to buy cough medicine for her baby because she doesn’t have to worry about diapers,” she says. “We believe every baby deserves a clean diaper. For low-income and homeless families, it’s actually a privilege to have that option. It really is life-changing!”