Nashville Diaper Connection, which supplies student parents with a diaper scholarship for their young children, has a presence at ten other Tennessee colleges and universities.
Middle Tennessee State University’s June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students has partnered with Nashville Diaper Connection for its Diapers for Diplomas scholarship program. The program will provide up to 200 diapers per month for an academic year for up to 150 students at Middle Tennessee State University.
According to an article on Middle Tennessee State University’s website, Maigan Wipfli, who serves as the director of the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students, was quoted as saying of the new partnership, “Our nontraditional students coming back to school are already facing hardships some of our traditional students don’t have. This program provides a necessity for our students who might not be able to afford both diapers and going to school.”
Nashville Diaper Connection is a nonprofit organization that was started in 2013 to help address the need for diapers for impoverished families in the Nashville area. The organization accepts diaper donations which it then distributes to families in need, aiming to help close the “diaper gap” in the area, which can keep babies from being able to participate in daycare or early education, and in turn, can keep parents from being able to work or attend school consistently. According to the organization’s website, it “provide[s] diapers to an average of 4,500 babies in need every month, which only meets 8.2% of diaper need for babies living in poverty.”
Nashville Diaper Connection partners with a number of other community organizations, schools, and institutions to expand the reach of its services. It created the Diapers for Diplomas scholarship program in order to allow college students who are also parents to have a portion of their expenses covered so they can keep more money in their pocket as they continue schooling and parenting. It is a tangible item scholarship, meaning that instead of money, the scholarship award comes in the form of diapers.
In order to be eligible for the Diapers for Diplomas scholarship, students must be at least 18 years old, be a parent to a child who wears newborn to size six diapers, be a resident of Tennessee, be eligible for the Tennessee Reconnect State Financial Aid Program, Pell Grant, Tennessee Promise, or Tennessee Hope, not have an associate degree or higher, and be at least a part-time student at Middle Tennessee State University.
Wipfli said, “This is an opportunity for our students … potentially saving them up to $1,200 during the school year. That way students don’t have to choose between diapers or books, or diapers instead of taking a class.” She went on to say, “This is a new venture with us and I’m really excited to branch out in more ways to help our students.”
The June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students offers other programs and resources to assist student parents, including scholarships to cover childcare and providing backpacks and school supplies to parents with children in kindergarten to sixth grade.
For more information about Middle Tennessee State University, visit the school’s website.