When you contribute to Infant Crisis Services, whether it’s your time, talents, or resources, you’re not only providing babies and toddlers with a full tummy and a dry diaper – you’re also improving their future. You’re giving them an opportunity to be healthy, productive citizens.
The Obstacle
Inadequate access to diapers can have negative and long-lasting consequences on both the baby and their family. Babies who remain in a soiled diaper for too long can be exposed to potential health risks, and most childcare centers require parents to provide a day’s worth of disposable diapers. If you don’t have an adequate supply of diapers, childcare is hard to find, which makes obtaining (and keeping) employment even more challenging.
Good nutrition, especially at a young age, is critical to a child’s physical and mental health. Food insecurity – the inability to consistently access enough nutritious food necessary for a healthy life – can slow a child’s development and cause lifelong health problems.
85 percent of brain development occurs during the first three years of life.
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics
Babies and toddlers who are malnourished often suffer lasting behavioral and cognitive deficits. Even one missed meal may have a negative effect on a child, leaving them with educational difficulties that they can never overcome.
Our Approach
At Infant Crisis Services, we use a three-pronged approach. We utilize this approach while always maintaining our organization’s four core values of compassion, kindness, respect, and love.
We want to be a place of comfort and respite for our babies and toddlers – and their families – in their time of need.
Our primary goal is to make sure that our clients leave with a week’s worth of diapers, food, and formula. We also provide clothing and other items such as toys, books, bottles, and wipes (depending on supply), but feeding and diapering babies is at the core of our mission.
Our clients have the opportunity to receive information about other community resources. Our full-time Manager of Client Services is available to meet with them to provide them with the proper resources.
Your Impact
Your contributions have a lasting effect on the babies and toddlers we serve. Not just today, but in the long term. You are helping to provide them with a healthy start and a better future. And financially, it just makes sense.
Studies show for every one dollar invested in the early years of a child’s life, there is about a $7 to $17 return on that investment.
Brittain & Dustin
We had the opportunity to meet Dustin, a single dad, and his adorable 10-month-old son, Brittain, a short while ago on our BabyMobile, our mobile formula and diaper pantry.
We were parked at the Logan County Health Department that day, when they visited in need of our services. Because they lived in Guthrie, it was very difficult for Dustin to make the long drive to our location in the city. As a single father, Dustin encounters different struggles than the average single parent.
One thing’s for sure, his love for Brittain comes through in the way they interact with each other. Dustin can be seen quoted on our Facebook page as saying, “Thank you Infant Crisis Services! It means a lot! I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at today.” Because of your generous donations, we are able to extend our reach of services to surrounding areas like Guthrie.
Dustin’s dreams for his son include a good education and “whatever he wants to achieve.” Your contributions help single dads, like Dustin, give their children a strong start in life. Brittain will be able to do “whatever he wants to achieve” because we were able to provide him with the life-sustaining essentials he needs.
Eva & Brenda
Eva and her mother, Brenda, visited Infant Crisis Services’ BabyMobile while it was parked at the WIC offices. Brenda, a proud Kiowa Comanche, explained that the tribe does not provide struggling families with diapers for their little ones. Her daughter, Eva, is a brown-haired rambunctious two-year-old who enjoys stomping in the puddles with her pink cowboy boots.
“Having the BabyMobile parked here has helped me save money to put gas in the car since we didn’t have to drive to the offices on Lincoln Boulevard,” Brenda said. It should come as no surprise that a growing two-year-old has a voracious appetite for life and for food. “The food in the toddler packs helps a great deal,’ Brenda said. ‘I honestly don’t know what we would have done without Infant Crisis Services.”
Thanks to you, Eva will not have to miss a meal or a diaper change because her parents have fallen on hard times. It means that she won’t have to know the difference between the two and can continue to be a happy, thriving two-year-old. At Infant Crisis Services, we measure our success baby-by-baby and toddler-by-toddler. Each baby that we are able to serve means that there is one less baby that will go to bed hungry or in a soiled diaper.
Lailanei & Alysha
Alysha walked into our offices like so many of our clients do…needing just a little bit of help. She brought her adorable three-week-old daughter, Lailanei, with her and was in desperate need of soy formula.
When Lailanei was born, Alysha had been able to breastfeed her. After realizing that wasn’t enough, she tried to supplement with Gerber Good Start Gentle formula, with no luck. It was at that point that she was told to try Gerber Soothe formula instead. She used her WIC vouchers for the month to purchase the cans of Soothe and found out that Lailanei was having an adverse reaction to that formula as well. Finally, Lailanei’s pediatrician suggested they try soy formula. Alysha was able to use the last of her food stamps to purchase one can of soy formula, and it worked! Unfortunately, neither the store where she purchased the Soothe formula nor the WIC office would exchange the formula. Alysha was left with only formula that upset her daughter’s stomach and no WIC vouchers until the middle of February.
We were happy to supply her with a week’s worth of soy formula and also the diapers and other essentials that she needed. Before she walked out that day, she told me that she had something she wanted to donate; eight cans of Gerber Soothe formula, for which we were incredibly grateful. Those eight cans will go to feed several babies for an entire week!
Infant Crisis Services
Donald W. Reynolds Center
4224 N. Lincoln Blvd
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
405-528-3663
Donor door hours are:
Monday – Friday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Service hours are:
Monday – Friday 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
