It’s no secret that the plight of the world’s children weighs heavily on me, and that I periodically shove my head deep into the sand to avoid the bad news that catapults itself into the cloud of information through which I wade on a daily basis. Enough! I say, and I bury myself in American Idol and library books and duck under the covers of my soft, warm bed.
This is why, when I saw an opportunity to join in on a conference call and blogging project with Katie Couric focusing on the Children of the Recession, I felt a sense of dread descend upon me as I immediately accepted the invitation. I feared that taking part in this effort would make me sad.
I was right.
Ms. Couric (on whose program I appeared last summer and so I shall call her Katie) has started a series of stories on the CBS Evening News that investigates the ways in which our sagging economy is affecting the nation’s children. From loss of health insurance to tension in the home to loss of the home altogether, the stories are heartbreaking and relentless in their frequency. On our conference call, in which dozens of mother/writers from the national Silicon Valley Moms Group took part, Katie had a specific family and its tale of woe to use as an example for every question posed. Overwhelmed case workers responsible for placing abandoned, neglected, or abused children. Emergency room statistics (on the rise, you guessed it) specifically dealing with cases of child abuse. Fear of malnourishment and/or obesity increases as already 21% of parents have changed the way they feed their families because of lack of funds.
Katie also talked about organizations around the country that are doing their tiny part to help. I say tiny because every effort feels like a small drop in a huge bucket empty of hope and full of despair. During the call, I remembered that I had scheduled a pickup from the Vietnam Veterans of America, and I quickly ran to put my four boxes of well-used clothing and shoes on the porch. Will that even help anyone? I wondered. I remembered how I brought bags and boxes to the Department of Children and Family last December, hoping that one of my kids’ neglected stuffed animals would comfort a scared child who had just been taken from his dangerous home.
There ARE people out there who make more of a concerted effort to volunteer, donate, and even directly support these children. Katie told us about a group called Safe Families that takes in children for period from a few weeks to a year while their jobless, homeless parents get back on their feet. She and my fellow writers talked about teachers who use their own money to help the children in their schools with anything from prom dresses to food. Katie and her producers asked us to bring grass roots efforts to their attention so they could turn the CBS focus on them, give them a voice, and help them help people.
The need is so overwhelming that I’m choking up as I write this. During the conference call, as much as I wanted to dissolve into a puddle of tears and hang up the phone, I stayed on the line and took notes. I tweeted the information to my Twitter network (approaching 1,000 strong) during the call, as did many of the other callers. And behold, another Twitter miracle happened.
Lisa Truong, co-director of Help a Mother Out, caught the discussion and picked up our hashtag (katiecouricsvsmomsgroup) on Twitter and jumped right in. Look at us! She tweeted. Over here! We are a grass roots organization collecting diapers and other supplies for homeless moms! Hey! You guys! What about us?!
I couldn’t help it. I clicked.
Help a Mother Out is a group that collects information about how to help. When you throw your hands up in the air and say “What can I do?” visit their site. Lots of us have busy, busy lives – more on our plates than we can already handle. HAMO helps us out by organizing contact info for places and groups that directly help those in need, so we can pick a need to fill and just fill it with a click, a packup and dropoff, or a calling. Their blog is packed with stories of loss and need (the poor babies in soiled diapers sent me over the edge) but also with stories of hope.
HAMO is based in the Bay Area. A few hours after I discovered them, I offered to be their Los Angeles mouthpiece. I’m terrified by this. I don’t know if I am up to the task (I’m not), if I have time (I don’t), if Stewart will even approve (he won’t). But as Katie Couric herself said, in response to my question “How do you deal with the emotions of immersing yourself in all this heartbreak?” that she feels a responsibility to expose the problem. She considers it her higher purpose. In our “fragmented media culture,” we have to tell the stories, and nobody can do it alone. She’s excited about the series, even proud of her work, because she believes that together, we can make an impact.
That’s why she reached out to the bloggers. While lots of people watch the CBS Evening News, hundreds of thousands read the collected blogs of the SV Moms Group. We are a force to be reckoned with. And while one blogger can’t fill the whole bucket with hope, we can each add a tiny drop, and maybe someday the bucket will be full again. I can only hope that my efforts, as well as the efforts of even one other person who reads this post, will make a difference in the life of a scared child.
Here is a roundup of all the other posts written by my cohorts at SV Moms Group. It’s worth taking the time to see what each writer took from this call. Powerful.
What about donating gently used cloth diapers? Renewable. Easy to use…
Wow! This is a great piece and so encouraging! Glad you were able to connect with Help a Mother Out. What an amazing resource, and so glad you decided to be their LA go-to mom. You won’t regret it!
Well said Kim.. I’m so proud
Maria, from what I’ve read the diaper drives don’t accept cloth diapers because recipients typically don’t have washing machines and most laundromats don’t let you wash cloth diapers there!
It sounds so cheesy, but I actually got chills reading this. We’re here at home, blogging and Tweeting away, while our kids and day jobs are semi-neglected, trying to get some info out there in the world, hoping that some folks read it and that a few of them act on it. KT, we’re thrilled and honored that you found us. Times *are* hard right now, but there are many, many generous, inspired people out there trying to make a difference. We can all be one of them.
Okay Rachel you made me cry again.
Also, an update. Stewart approves of me helping to save children from diaper rash.
Thank you KTP, for honoring our efforts in this post. We are thrilled that Stewart approves of you helping to save kids from diaper rash! Also, re: cloth diapers – we’ve come by some links to .orgs that are working with teen moms and cloth diapering (you are right, homeless mothers don’t have that option). Will post them up on our website after some due diligence on our part.
We also have a diaper bank here in the New Haven area. The Register published a story just in the last week I think, about a mother who drove from Waterbury because her baby was in his last diaper. The article went on to say that the decline in the economy was impacting the supply of diapers in the diaper bank, not in a good way.
Roundup link not working
right up at OLOV there is a clothes closet and a diaper closet that helps aid this area and new haven i think. (I think you have your grandmother and grandfather’s volunteer and community genes. you probably have no idea of the things they have been involved in, or started. you are carrying the torch.)
I had heard about this Katie phone call via Twitter but yours is the first post that really described the mission. Wow. Is all I can say.
I will check out the links you provided.
I found you through the BlogHer LA area potential meet-up so perhaps our paths will cross soon.
🙂
Happy weekend.
Awesome post, idea, etc. You are totally up to it. Let me know what I can do to help here in Los Angeles.
That was a very heartfelt post. It’s one thing to hear the stories and feel sad about what’s going on, and it’s another to do something about it. The scariest things are often the most rewarding, and I look forward to hearing updates about your mission.