Jess' story

Jess, 32, is a young mum just like any other, doing the best she can to provide for her little girl in hard times.

Jess and her partner were expecting their first baby when she experienced family violence at the hands of her former partner. While she knew raising a child alone would be incredibly difficult, she made the brave decision to relocate to protect herself and her daughter.

It was early on in her pregnancy, Jess was very stressed, low in finances and had used up all her savings moving and setting her home up for a newborn.

Her little girl arrived into the world and Jess was busy navigating motherhood and giving her daughter the best possible start to life. Living alone and on a single income, it didn’t take long for the costs to rise well above what she was earning and with no savings left, she felt stretched to her limits.

“Sometimes as parents, we want to shield our kids from so much. We don’t want to acknowledge that stress of seeing $5 in your bank account when you know you have this little person who needs so much from you on a daily basis.”

This is when Jess started reaching out for help. Every bit of her small income would go towards keeping her baby fed and a roof over their heads, but this would often leave her going without the basics for herself and constantly worrying about how to pay the next bill. The charity organisations she contacted were able to provide some gift cards, which she used to pay for food and bills, but one daily necessity that was a constant struggle to afford were nappies for her little one.

That’s where The Nappy Collective came in. Through a quick online search, she learned that nappies were available for parents just like her. Jess was able to access nappies through a local community partner and received her first packet of nappies and another packet a few weeks later.

Thanks to The Nappy Collective donations, she continues to get support through the charity, helping her daughter stay clean, happy and healthy.

“It has been a rough couple of years, I haven’t received a lot of kindness – even from myself. I can’t put into words what it meant to get essentials like nappies. It was one thing that could give me a breather financially. It gave me hope.”