We recently connected with Lindsay Gray and have shared our conversation below.

Lindsay , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

Our non-profit is based in Birmingham, Alabama. We are a diaper bank that cares for the community by meeting their basic, essential, monthly needs. Needs that are often overlooked and under-discussed do to societal stigma. 1 in 3 families in our community struggle to afford household necessities like diapers, wipes, and period products. These goods play a tremendous role in how successful a family can be. When parents don’t have access to these vital supplies, they often miss work, school and are unable to send their little ones to childcare. Alabama is the 6th most impoverished state in the country. When we say the need is big here, it’s really big. I share this astonishing and frustrating statistic not with a badge of honor but with a badge of shame. We have failed our neighbors and continue to fail them generation after generation.

A question I’m often faced with is how do we stay missionally motivated to serve our neighbors when it seems like we are always climbing such a steep hill? The answer I’m always drawn back to is this, when we feel like the world is just, when we feel like families have all the support and care they need to thrive, that’s when we can stop the climb. Until then, find your most comfortable shoes and strap on your survival pack, it’s a treacherous world we live in but the journey up however challenging is necessary, impactful, and oh so good.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I married my high school sweetheart at the age of 21, became a nurse at 22, and a mother at 25. These three roles have greatly shaped my adulthood as I continue learning how to navigate life’s journey. Working as a labor and delivery nurse for over a decade, I saw first-hand women in their most vulnerable state often under appreciated and under supported. I then began having children myself and quickly noticed a shift of judgment as I pulled back from my career to focus on caring for my babies. There was and continues to be a huge lack of respect for this tremendously challenging role. One where there are no shifts, there’s no clocking in and clocking out. You have to be on 24/7.

What we’ve created here in Alabama, the deep south, is action when it comes to supporting women and their children. We continuously rank highest in poverty, gender wage gaps, and single mothers. We may be sick of it but we certainly aren’t tired. As mothers we don’t get to be tired. We are done talking about it and are determined to move the needle. While we are proud to have served over 100,000 of our neighbors with monthly essentials to date, we have big plans to continue expanding our reach.

It’s easy to focus on just the physical need being met by our services. The truth of the matter is we are impacting physical, financial, and emotional needs of the families in our care. 100% of our clients report decreased stress, 100% of our clients report more stable households – these are outcomes well beyond changing diapers.

In the virtual/remote world we are living in today, our hope is women and mothers don’t feel alone. That the message is seen, felt, and heard- you and your children’s needs matter.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I went to school to be a nurse. I was 10 years into my career and truly loved what I was doing. Watching women birth their babies and literally transform into mothers is one of the most beautiful, miraculous events to witness. It was a stable paying job, it was reliable, it was safe.

When the opportunity presented itself to be involved in growing a diaper bank, the first in our state, to serve mothers in the community, there was zero hesitation that I had to play a part. I began as a founding board member and eventually found myself at the helm in the Executive Director role. From a tiny room in our church to a 10,000sq/ft warehouse in the heart of downtown Birmingham, I’ve realized this birthing has been just as miraculous. There’s been fears and tears, highs and lows, but jumping into the sea of the non-profit world is one I will never regret.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience: the capacity to withstand difficulties; toughness.

We’ve experienced defining moments in our 8 year history. Whether it’s a hitting a new record high number of individuals served, developing programming to eliminate barriers for families, or receiving a milestone donation, not closing a single day during the COVID pandemic has to be our largest achievement thus far. We juggled increased demand, supply chain issues, partner organization challenges, staffing fluctuations, but we did it-all of it. We showed up for our community when they needed us most and gained confidence in our capabilities to be a leading, collaborative provider of care amongst the non-profit network in our state.     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bundlesdiaperbank.org
• Instagram: @bundlesdiapers
• Facebook: @bundlesdiapers
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-gray-a4287413b
• Twitter: @bundlesdiapers

Image Credits
Bundles of Hope Diaper Bank