Eastside Baby Corner Programs
Our only program is to help the helpers: case managers assess the needs of the families, request the items through our online ordering system, pick up and deliver the items to the families. The requests from agencies are filled to the best of EBC's ability to match age, gender and personal preferences. Through smart purchasing in bulk and reliance on volunteers and in-kind donations, EBC leverages limited resources to best meet the needs of dozens of agencies and the people they serve. To preserve confidentiality, EBC does not collect information on individual children. Eastside Baby Corner is committed to providing resources to all children in need, from birth to age twelve, regardless of their religious, ethnic or other affiliations.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Eastside Baby Corner hired our first paid executive director in 2012. Founder Karen Ridlon is taking on a new role as Executive Director Emeritus. Hiring an executive director as well as additional support staff is a key goal of the Board's efforts to increase the capacity and sustainability of the organization.
In response to continuing and growing need, EBC added five new reporting agency partners in 2012 and increased weekly allotments to another 15; we recently lifted the cap on how many orders of diapers can be placed for a single child in a week. An additional drop-off site was added in 2012 to increase the amount of goods donated to EBC.
As a member of the newly formed National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN), EBC has received shipments of donated diapers to augment what we purchase and what is donated through community drives and events. This past year saw a 30% in the number of drives, bringing in thousands of diapers, cans of formula, socks, toothbrushes, pajamas, school supplies and assorted clothes. We have an abundance of volunteers who contribute more than 1500 hours each month handling operations and the renovation of our donated distribution hub.
Despite tremendous growth in services, the challenge continues to be reaching all the kids who need assistance. We still have providers waiting to join our network, and there are providers who are struggling with the federal and state cutbacks that limit their ability to order, pick up the goods and deliver these crucial basics to families in need. EBC is working hard to create flexible solutions to these challenges so that the professionals working directly with local families can depend on EBC for the basic “stuff” moms or dads need to be the parent they want to be and children need to grow up healthy and thriving