Over the last 33 years, Hope Supply Company has done exactly what its name implies. Under the direction of CEO Barbara Johnson, the nonprofit works with other organizations to provide homeless mothers and children with essential items, especially diapers.
The company is the largest children’s diaper bank in the country, working with over eighty-five organizations that not only provide children diapers but new clothing and winter coats, courtesy of corporate partners like Levi’s, Oshkosh, Carter’s, and Bombas socks.
Hope Supply Company acts as a clearinghouse for the donated goods and resources, dispensing these items to local charities, schools, state agencies, transitional living centers, and nonprofits.
Through its partnerships with other organizations, Hope Supply Company provides for children in unstable environments across seven Texas counties. Currently, there are more than 6,300 homeless children in North Texas.
In 1989, it became apparent that the demographic of homeless individuals was shifting – the homeless population began to consist of more and more women and small children.
This realization prompted the formation of a nonprofit benefitting homeless children, called Hope Foundation for the Homeless. The organization’s name later changed to Captain Hope’s Kids, which remained until 2015, when Johnson came on board to rebrand the nonprofit and refocus its mission. It was then renamed Hope Supply Company.
“[The name] best reflected our mission because we are like a food bank, but operate as a critical needs bank. We consider ourselves a supply house, and we like to say that we supply hope to homeless children and their moms,” says Johnson.
Hope Supply Company works across North Texas to make sure homeless infants and toddlers have access to diapers and other essentials.
Their Hope In A Box program provides hygiene necessities for babies in need. The 100%-volunteer-driven project packs boxes of hygiene products such as baby wipes, shampoo, bath soap, lotion, and baby powder to give to mothers of babies and toddlers.
“The need for what we do is endless. Diapers are expensive. Hygiene is costly, so any kind of donations are welcome,” says Johnson.
Hope Supply Company has served as a diaper bank for more than three decades, distributing diapers to nonprofits who then provide them to the populations they serve. Some of the nonprofits they supply, called diaper pantries, simply give the diapers to individuals who ask for them.
“There is one diaper pantry in Far East Dallas called Diapers Etc. that we stock. So there are a few places that if people call us, we can refer them to these pantries. They don’t have to be a homeless person or a woman living in a domestic violence shelter,” says Johnson.
Hope Supply Company is poised for further growth and outreach in 2023, with plans to create a diaper pantry of its own.
Now, with the help of sponsors, staff, and volunteers, the organization will be extending its helping hand directly to homeless mothers and babies in North Texas, as the pantry will allow people in need to come straight to Hope Supply Company for diapers and other crucial items.
“The startup for [the pantry] is being funded by the 75-year-old fundraiser, Crystal Charity Ball. We are very excited about that,” Johnson shared.
Although Hope Supply Company’s primary focus is on getting essential items to homeless children, they also work with a division of the National Diaper Bank Network called Alliance for Period Supplies (APS).
APS focuses on alleviating “period poverty, where girls in schools or women don’t have what they need to make them feel comfortable, hygienic, and confident to go to work or school. We purchase period supplies through the APS to distribute to our mothers, and we attend a conference where we discuss best practices for distributing period supplies,” explains Johnson.
Hope Supply Company, the Austin Diaper Bank, and The Texas Diaper Bank in San Antonio have previously lobbied in Washington, D.C. to make period supplies and diapers tax-free.
“A little piece of trivia,” says Johnson, “in Texas, cowboy boots are tax-exempt, but diapers and feminine hygiene are not. We’ve kind of got our priorities mixed up in Texas.”
Although Congress has yet to pass a bill removing tax from diapers and feminine hygiene products, Johnson says the alliance continues to lobby and advocate for such laws that will support mothers and children.
In addition to their regular operations, Hope Supply Company also works to fulfill the need that arises during times of crisis.
Throughout the pandemic, when many people and organizations limited their contact with others in their community, Hope Supply Company stayed the course, continuing to provide basic supplies for local homeless and domestic violence shelters, rehab centers, and any establishment caring for children without a stable home.
Johnson described the pandemic’s era of critical need as one of the most challenging for the company.
“We did not miss one day. At one point during the height of the pandemic, when everyone was scared and it was this terrible unknown, we had a demand spike for baby and Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, and diapers from our partner agencies that exceeded 300%,” says Johnson.
The ongoing invasion in Ukraine is another crisis for which the organization will likely work to provide relief.
Johnson said the news of Russia’s invasion struck a chord with her — the situation was reminiscent of one she had heard about in stories from her mother’s childhood.
“My mother is one-hundred-percent German, and she lived through World War II. As a little girl, she escaped her little town in Germany during the World War II bombings. When she returned with her family, their house was destroyed by the bombing. And honestly, what’s happening right now in Ukraine is very similar to what my mother had to endure,” she shared.
Her mother’s experiences are part of what inspired Johnson’s work at the Hope Supply Company: the organization is ready and willing to help those in crisis, including any refugees who may find themselves in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Johnson explains that Hope Supply Company has recently partnered with the Texas Refugee Service to assist Afghan refugees in Dallas, providing evacuated families with diapers and baby supplies.
She says that the company will do the same for refugees from Ukraine.
“I feel certain that some Ukrainian refugees are going to end up in Dallas one way or another, and Hope Supply Company will definitely be on the frontline of that effort, giving them what they need for their children as well,” says Johnson.
Much of Hope Supply Company’s mission is made possible by community support.
To that end, the company will host The Ticket’s Craig Miller and his annual Swing For Hope golf tournament, held on July 18 at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano. Proceeds from the event will be used to purchase more diapers from the National Diaper Bank Network.