Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of Cooper City
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
EP #302: The Greater Fort Lauderdale diaper bank with Dwayne and Brittany Wolfe
A silent crisis affects thousands of families in our community, yet most of us never think about it. Diapers - a basic necessity for infants and many seniors - receive no government assistance whatsoever. For families struggling financially, this creates impossible choices between food, rent, and keeping their children clean and healthy.
On this eye-opening episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, Jeremy Wolf sits down with Brittany and Dwayne Wolfe, founders of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Diaper Bank. What began as simple acts of kindness - handing out diapers during playdates - has evolved into a robust nonprofit serving nearly 3,000 families monthly throughout Broward County.
The statistics are staggering: babies need 8-10 diapers daily at approximately 16 cents each, costing families $100-$150 monthly per child. For seniors on fixed incomes, adult diapers are even more expensive. Without this essential item, parents resort to desperate measures - washing and reusing soiled diapers, stretching time between changes, or fashioning makeshift alternatives from t-shirts.
Brittany, drawing from her background as a social worker, shares heartbreaking stories of families taking multiple buses just to reach their distribution events, and isolated seniors living in deplorable conditions without anyone to help them maintain their dignity. Their adult diaper program now provides not just supplies but vital case management services, connecting vulnerable community members with additional resources.
The Greater Fort Lauderdale Diaper Bank has grown to include partnerships with 31 agencies, the Broward County Library System, and Memorial Healthcare. They've recently moved into their first warehouse and are expanding their reach through community health expos and direct distribution events.
Want to help? The Wolfes make it simple: donate diapers (even opened packages) at any Broward County library, volunteer through HandsOnBroward.org, or make financial contributions at ftldiaperbank.org. As they powerfully remind us, even one small act of kindness can transform lives in ways we might never imagine.
For more information visit www.ftldiaperbank.org or call (954) 667-9672. Stay up to date on our socials at https://www.instagram.com/ftldiaperbank/ and https://www.facebook.com/ftldiaperbank.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello, friends, family, great universe, Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today we're joined by the founders of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Diaper Bank, which is an organization that really is filling a critical gap that most people don't realize exists. So we're going to talk a little bit about how this started, what it's like to run a nonprofit that really meets such an essential basic need for families, and what's happening behind the scenes when families can't afford diapers. So I'm here with Brittany andany and dwayne wolf no relation to myself. I think you guys have an e at the end of the name, right, right, yeah, you're not. You're not official wolf, sorry, you're not. You're not in the part, you're not in the tribe.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry to say um, but I actually had um worked with you both in the past a couple of times. We did some feature articles in cooper city living to showcase really the work that you're doing in the community. I'd never had a chance to actually physically meet you until I was at a recent Chamber of Commerce lunch event and I had the pleasure of meeting Brittany and I said, hey, I got to get you guys on the podcast. You guys are doing phenomenal work in our community and we need to spread the, spread the message, spread the word far and wide.
Speaker 3:So welcome to the show guys. Thank you, Yep. Thanks Jeremy.
Speaker 2:Likewise, it's a pleasure meeting you, meeting you as well, for sure, yeah, so let's get straight into this. I'm curious, like, for me, I have two kids, soon to be 11 and just turned 13, the older one and so we're well out of the diapers. But when they were growing up and they needed diapers, this was something like, thankfully, we're very fortunate and I had resources available If I needed diapers. But when they were growing up and they needed diapers, this was something like, like, thankfully, we're very fortunate and I I I had resources available. If I needed diapers, I would just go buy them. But obviously there's a lot of families out there that aren't fortunate enough to have um, you know resources available for these things for you both. What was it that um helped like, got you to realize that there was such a strong need for this town here in South Florida, and how did it even come on your radar in the first place?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I'm a social worker and I've been working with Humana now for 11 years. But when I first started my career I was working with the Medicaid population and there was no resources where I can get my patients diapers and I had a few parents come to me like I'm not able to find these diapers anywhere, I can't afford them. And that was 10 years ago. They were a lot cheaper back then. So I started researching and I came into contact with the National Diaper Bank Network and realized that there are diaper pantries starting to form and we kind of jumped into it. We started giving one or two diapers from the garage and at play dates, because we used to have a play date group with my youngest well, my oldest daughter she's 11 now so play date groups and stuff like that and she made some friends and we gave out some diapers. And now we give out diapers to almost 3,000 families per month through our partnering agencies and direct distributions.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's good stuff yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's been really eye-opening to consider our humble beginnings, humble origins and that origin story. Right, I remember the first family that we decided to serve. It was just looking to do a good deed right and really looking to help someone. And then we realized that there weren't any government subsidies available. Right, there's no government funds allocated for diapers. Right, there's no, there's no government funds allocated for for diapers. So we were just looking to make a difference and again, it's really rewarding to see how much it's grown. And you know, in all the work that that we've been doing, we're we're able to have such a cast, such a big net through our direct distributions that we have monthly. So we directly distribute monthly at Tyrone Bryant Park in downtown Fort Lauderdale area, and then we also have our partnering agencies that we provide diapers to for individuals that may not be able to make it to those distributions. So this is hence the net of 3,000 plus families that we're collectively serving every month.
Speaker 2:Why do you think it is that this is such a hidden issue? Right? I think most people are probably like me. I would think right, they don't really think about this stuff. And you, brittany, you found this through being a social worker. Why do you think this is such a hidden issue for so many folks?
Speaker 4:I think because it's diapers it's a little bit taboo to talk about. A lot of people just assume that you get help with diapers like you get help with formula or any other basic need like a food pantry, and you don't. So a lot of the moms are ashamed that we've heard moms washing out diapers. They just rinse it off and reuse it because there's not enough funds for them to get more diapers. And a lot of the parents are choosing between food and diapers on a hard day and using t-shirts or anything that they can find as a diaper instead of using clean diapers. And a lot of regular people don't think about that, like I wouldn't have thought about it unless I was in that social work space.
Speaker 4:It costs 16 cents for a diaper now and that adds up. Babies go through eight to 10 diapers a day. So it's usually, you know, $100 to $150 a month and if you're on food stamps and you can't afford that $150 for food and you have to spend it on diapers, that's really hard. A lot of the families coming from us are on low-income childcare. They're on low-income food assistance. They get WIC. We work with all those agencies the Early Learning Coalition, children's Service Council, healthy Mother Healthy Babies. We're getting a lot of those families that are coming in because they are in the poverty line and a lot of zip codes in Broward County are higher in poverty, I think 33311 down in.
Speaker 4:Fort Lauderdale is the highest poverty rate right now.
Speaker 4:And we're at 33%. So there is a big gap where there's a lot of people in need in Broward County and we're trying to just fill that need and raise awareness. There is a National Diaper Need Awareness Week and we're supposed to be having a gala this year for that. But we do try to raise as much awareness as we can so that we can educate the general population and have them donate their leftover diapers or get involved in that way, because it is a big issue, Just like food. You just don't hear about it as much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, see, I would have thought that this is all like government assistance takes care of this right. Like they have food stamps, I think they have like diaper stamps for this. I'm wondering why that isn't really a thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's, it's, it's. It's a fair assumption, right, and it's the assumption that a lot of people make. So when I go around and I talk to people about diaper need, right, and I explain to people what a diaper bank is, who we are, what, what we do you at first it's it's, you know, it's okay, it's a charity, a lot of people will grasp and understand it's a charity organization, right. But I don't think a lot of thought goes into it Usually until you tell folks that there are no government subsidies that account for this, right.
Speaker 3:And then then you kind of start to get the attention, especially if you have any individuals that have kids themselves, right, that may be a part of you know, like that, like my speech, or that educational moment, right. And then it's like, wow, you know, that's not. You know we're, thankfully, we are able to work and we're in a better financial situation. The individuals may think, right, but wow, for someone that you know isn't working or someone that is disabled or you know their work is constricted for whatever reason, that can be a problem, that's an issue. Diapers are very expensive. So you get that attention when a lot of folks realize that there are no government subsidies. There is no government budget that covers that or helps with that in any magnitude.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we also see a lot of it with our adult diaper population. They're living on very fixed income Social Security and those diapers are even more expensive than the baby diapers. They can get a pack of 18 for like $30. So it's and they use more per day. So it's very hard for our elderly population when they need diapers. So we're just trying to fill that gap diapers. So we're just trying to fill that gap.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I appreciate the work that you're doing. It's really, really fantastic. So you started doing this about 10 years ago. You said and it was just something that kind of transpired uh, given out a few diapers here or there. How has that evolved to where you're at today? Is this, uh like how much? How much time are you guys devoting to this? What is the? What is the typical day-to-day look like at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Diaper Bank and how can people look to get involved?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so it's grown substantially. We used to do just one monthly pantry at the police station in Cooper City and we had about 100 families that we were serving per month. And then we grew and we started giving diapers out to partnering agencies and now we're so big that we just moved into our first warehouse. We do have the 31 partnering agencies and we partner with the Broad County Library System as well as Memorial Healthcare to get the diapers out to the community and we have one pantry at each location per month. Now we're doing two pantries, 31 partnering agencies and we have an adult diaper case management program with our social workers interns that can go out to the elderly home and deliver the diapers and do some case management with them. So it's pretty good.
Speaker 4:A typical day for us is you know, we got to get up early, we got to get the kids ready, we both work full time. So it's kind of a juggling act where we're working and then diaper banking and then the interns are working on the back end and we only have one full time staff right now. So we're working on getting some more stuff on board and getting grants and growing, um, but we do have the interns and the interns are working full time. They're usually with me on Mondays and Wednesdays and then periodically throughout the week they'll check in and what do we need to do? And we have a lot of meetings in the days, a lot of grant meetings.
Speaker 4:A lot of you know what are we doing logistics, stuff like that and our phone is always ringing with people who are in need, partnering agencies who are in need. We do partner pickups on the first Wednesday of every month and then our distribution is on the first Thursday of every month from the library and then it's intermittent Wednesdays after that at Memorial. So if anybody's interested in helping give out diapers or with any of the logistics, or we have a big project right now where we have to sort all the diapers that are in our warehouse. So that's coming up in a few weeks. And then we're working on our birth, baby and beyond health expo that's going to be in Cooper city just to kind of give everyone a chance to see our healthcare providers and get some diapers. We're going to be giving out clothes and soap and a whole bunch of stuff at the expo. So I think that's going to be really fun, yeah.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, so, and just just I kind of wanted to summarize really quick to to Brittany's point right Ways to help. So we accept open packs of diapers, unopened packs of diapers. You can drop any of that off at any of the Broward County library locations. We have a phenomenal partnership with the Broward County Library System, so that's one that's huge right, because we're able to collect those from them, sort and redistribute into the community. We accept our monetary donations at ftldiaperbankorg. We also are always looking for hands-on help for anyone that wants to volunteer and give their time. So if you go to wwwhandsonbrowerorg and search for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Diaper Bank, it provides all of those volunteer opportunities.
Speaker 2:Excellent. We're going to, of course, put links in the description for everyone out there that can get involved, but I want to ask you guys both you've been doing this a while now. I'm sure there's been many people's. You've touched many people deeply with the work that you're doing. Is there a particular story that comes to mind of a family that really touched your hearts in a significant way?
Speaker 4:I think for me that there's a few of them. Some of them have passed on from our elderly population, but I did have one. She passed away recently so she's kind of on my mind. But we did home visits with a lady who was in Lauderdale Lakes and she had a lot of issues with mold in her home and DCF was involved and some of the ceilings were falling down and she was very scared and didn't want anyone in her home.
Speaker 4:So we had to kind of build those relationships with the social work interns and get everything together for her and really cater to her needs, build up that trust, build up the relationship so we could get her the clean diapers and, you know, just making sure she had everything she needed. And she didn't have any friends, no family. She was kind of alone and isolated in her apartment. We got her wheels on wheels, we got her hooked up with services and we just really made a huge difference in her life toward the end of her life. And she passed away last month and she left us a letter that was just really touching. It said thank you. You know, you changed my life, you kept me clean and otherwise she was just, you know, having feces on herself and she couldn't wipe it and it was a whole issue.
Speaker 4:So I'm glad that we were able to help her, and there's so many adults like her that are isolated and don't have the money for diapers and just need those extra services, so I'm really glad that we can close those gaps.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and then, real quick, there is a story that comes to mind of a family that we served. We served this family for a few years and you know the relationship started with she, so it's a family of two and her husband was she's married family to husband was on disability he had recently gotten on disability and he wasn't. He obviously wasn't working, so she was the only one going out to work. She's working a minimum wage job and it was very difficult, right, as we know, living in South Florida and really looking to thrive off of really just one person's salary, and she wasn't able to afford diapers. And someone told her about our organization and she started coming before she was reusing diapers. She admitted to reusing diapers, at times, unfortunately having to scrape out fecal matter from diapers to reuse or extending the time.
Speaker 3:Her youngest child would wear diapers, right, because she didn't have that many to substitute. She would actually our first Thursday distributions. She would oftentimes get a ride to come and pick up and if there wasn't a ride available, she would have to take two buses to get to where we were, and I thought that was just the saddest thing. When we first met. She came and she was a little adamant about getting the diapers as quickly as she could, and at first I thought it was just yeah, hey, maybe she's a little impatient. But then I realized she mentioned hey, I took multiple buses to get here and I need time to walk back to the bus station to, you know, to make the schedule, to get back on time. So, is there any way? You know, and it just it, just it touched my heart because, again it's, you know, we may not think of these things right, just because we are, we are not dealing with them, but this is real life for a lot, a lot of folks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and and I I could only imagine this runs so much deeper than the financial impact that it has on people. The story you just told me, that, the psychological toll that that has to take on somebody having to deal with that, it's just got to be incredible. And the work that you're doing, truly, guys, my hat's off to you. The work that you're doing it's so important and it's so powerful and I really want to spread this message far and wide throughout our community. I know you guys both also live in Cooper City, right?
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do. Very cool, and you got how old are your kids 11 and 3.
Speaker 3:Ah yeah, very nice.
Speaker 2:Very nice, yeah. So you guys, clearly you're very, very busy.
Speaker 3:You're out there working full-time jobs. You got two kids. You're doing this nonprofit. Do you have any downtime? What do you guys like to do for fun when you're not working? At least one family friend camping trip once a year, sometimes more if time permits it, but that's a big thing that we like to do and aside from that, whenever we get opportunities to do it and a chance to, we travel periodically. So we enjoy traveling and just really, like I said, the outdoors. You know we love outdoorsy stuff camping. My three-year-old he's got a recent obsession with fishing so I've been taking him fishing a lot in a lot of the downtime Well, any downtime that we have. So we try to make the best of it and do things as a family when we do get some of that downtime.
Speaker 2:So do you guys go camping or do you go glamping? This is a big distinction there.
Speaker 3:Oh no, we go camping.
Speaker 1:Hardcore camping.
Speaker 3:Hardcore camping yeah, we did glamping for the first time at this resort and was like we're so confused, like what is this? It was weird, this is not real. Yeah, this isn't a real thing.
Speaker 4:It was fun though. So we do a lot of stuff. We're always around town, so you probably see us around town. You might see us on a canal with my child's fish.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, what would be one thing? You'd like to leave our listeners with One message you'd like to give them about the work that you're doing?
Speaker 4:It's needed. It helps so many people, and just even one small act of kindness goes a long way.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and if I can add to that too, too, if you know, I always encourage people, right short of donating monetary funds to an organization, donate your time, identify whether it's this cause or another cause, identify a cause that resonates with you and donate your time because it's. It's an indescribable feeling to be a part of something that has such a big impact. So that's what I try to empower people to do.
Speaker 2:All right. So one more time for our listeners, in case they missed it earlier. How can people learn more? How can we get involved? Maybe share the website, the contact information, the best way to get connected.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so our website is wwwftldiaperbankorg and anyone can email us information at ftldiaperbankorg.
Speaker 2:Perfect, all right, we will. Like I said earlier, we'll drop a link in the description to all of the contact information. So if you're listening out there, you could lend a hand, you can get involved. Guys doing fantastic work in and around the community. We really appreciate everything of the contact information. So if you're listening out there, you could lend a hand, you can get involved, guys doing fantastic work in and around the community.
Speaker 4:We really appreciate everything that you're doing so.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, of course, and to our listeners, thanks for tuning in, and we'll catch you all next time on the next episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Speaker 1:Everyone, take care and have a have a great day. 231-3170.