{"id":312453,"date":"2026-06-18T23:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T23:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/312453\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T23:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T23:56:12","slug":"program-helps-seniors-access-free-incontinence-supplies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/312453\/","title":{"rendered":"Program helps seniors access free incontinence supplies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 The <a href=\"https:\/\/agingcarefl.org\/services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Area Agency on Aging Pasco-Pinellas<\/a> is seeing an increase in the number of senior citizens who can\u2019t afford incontinence supplies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur helpline receives calls for all different types of needs, and one of the biggest needs they identified were people who couldn\u2019t afford incontinence supplies,\u201d said Peggy Herlache, the agency&#8217;s assistant director of community health.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why the agency partners with more than one dozen community centers for its Diapers for Dignity program. It is donor-driven and aims to support seniors discreetly, providing free incontinence supplies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s essential because a lot of seniors are very insecure when it comes down to incontinence,\u201d said Venseta Anthony, who helps distribute products at the Sunshine Center in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFinancially, now, the way things are going on, a lot of seniors are on fixed income,\u201d said Anthony.<\/p>\n<p>Anthony knows the supplies are expensive because she has also benefited from the program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe times that I was in need&#8230; the supplies were here for me also,\u201d said Anthony.<\/p>\n<p>The agency wants to ensure sure the items are acquired with discretion. Seniors go to their local site to pick up products, provide minimal information and leave with dignity and much-needed products.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey can walk out and be proud, and nobody knows their business,\u201d said Anthony.<\/p>\n<p>The agency says the need is growing, reporting that in 2023, 71,401 items were distributed. In 2024, 84,290 products were distributed and in 2025, 115,507 items were distributed. The number is trending to increase again for 2026. The agency reports that during the first four months of 2026, 40,451 items have already been distributed.<\/p>\n<p>Herlache delivered donated supplies to the Sunshine Center Thursday, knowing they would go quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe ask for the packages to be unopened, all sizes of pull-ups, pads, the bed pads,\u201d said Herlache.<\/p>\n<p>Anthony and other clients say they appreciate the access and, most of all, the discretion.<\/p>\n<p>The helpline can be reached at 800-963-5337.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 The Area Agency on Aging Pasco-Pinellas is seeing an increase in the number of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[3948,6466,274,571,1187,115,596,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278,835],"class_list":["post-312453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-health","tag-app-latest-health-stories","tag-app-top-stories","tag-health","tag-melissa-eichman","tag-news","tag-pinellas-county","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}