Northside’s commitment to women doesn’t end when they leave the hospital or doctor’s office. The hospital also supports organizations that help women and families in the community.
One such nonprofit is Helping Mamas, a Norcross-based organization that works to address diaper need and period poverty.
Jamie Lackey, a Gwinnett County mother and social worker, rallied friends and family when she saw that too many families were unable to afford necessities such as diapers, and there were no public assistance programs to help.
That effort grew into Helping Mamas. The organization moved into a 9,000-square-foot facility in Norcross and opened a Knoxville, Tennessee, office in 2018. An expansion to Albany, Georgia, followed with a new office there in 2024.
“Our programming involves diaper distribution, car seat distribution — anything a child might need from birth to age 12, we're going to have it and we're going to get it right back out to the community,” said Lackey, who serves as the CEO of Helping Mamas.
“Our vision is to create a world where no mom and no woman has to make the choice between diapers and food or period products and food again. We saw that the same families that were struggling to access diapers were also struggling to access period products, so we added that, and it quickly became our second most distributed item out to women in our community.”
Helping Mamas partners with schools, social service agencies and health departments, and puts on mobile distribution efforts.
“We harness the power of community support so that all families can thrive,” Lackey said.
She said a recent case illustrates the power of the organization’s reach. A woman came to Helping Mamas with her child to get help, but staff members and volunteers realized, as Lackey said, “Something wasn’t quite right.”
The family had been a victim of domestic violence and the mom had spent her last money to get a ride to the Helping Mamas office to get supplies. The staff was able to call a partner agency that works with victims of domestic violence, and that agency was able to get her to safety and start her life and education anew.
“What I love about this story is that it's not just that she got the supplies that she needed, but it shows the power of partnership, which is what we're really proud of here at Helping Mamas,” Lackey said. “Those diapers opened the door for her to get to safety. Our aim is for families to always have access to basic needs so that they can move their families forward.
“We hear women, and that's why we come to work every single day. We need women to have more voices at the table, and what we know is that one in two families is missing out on work because they can't afford access to diapers. We hear them and we want them to have a voice at the table at their table, so we show up for them with basic needs so they can show up for their families.
“Helping Mamas makes sure women are heard.”
