BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Parents are paying nearly 24% more for basic baby items this year, and local nonprofits say the growing need for essentials like diapers and formula is stretching their supplies thin.

At the Bakersfield Pregnancy Center, Director Erin Rogers says shelves that were once fully stocked now sit nearly empty.

“We are really down on our diaper supply,” Rogers said. “We have a few packages of newborns, ones and twos, but all the bigger sizes we are completely out of.”

The center serves an average of 350 clients each month, offering diapers, wipes and formula to nearly 80 families. But Rogers said that’s just a small portion of the community’s total need.

“There’s about 14,000 people that give birth every year in Kern County, and we’re only serving maybe 2,000 of them,” she said. “The need is huge.”

That growing demand is also being felt at The Mission at Kern County, where Executive Director Carlos Baldovinos oversees the women and children’s recovery program. The facility provides housing, food, diapers and formula for more than a dozen mothers and their children—free of charge.

“We don’t want them to worry about baby formula or clothing,” Baldovinos said. “We want them to concentrate one-hundred percent on their recovery and their child’s development.”

The program serves fewer clients overall, but participants and their children often remain in care for up to a year. On any given night, Baldovinos estimates as many as 160 women—some with children—are struggling with homelessness or access to basic necessities.

At the Pregnancy Center, staff distribute more than 300 diapers, 156 care boxes and 45 car seats each month. Rogers said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for help has only grown.

“It seems like it’s been really hard to keep a supply of diapers on hand to meet the need,” she said.

Community members can donate baby items throughout the month or drop off supplies at the 23ABC Community Baby Shower, taking place Nov. 20 at 321 21st Street in Bakersfield.

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