Hi community, my name is Aimee Mancha and I'm the Community Resource Coordinator at SisterWeb. As a Community Resource Coordinator, I help families and birthing people in San Francisco (SF) access whatever they need to have a joyous, safe, and nourishing prenatal, birth, and postpartum experience.
SisterWeb strives to uplift and exclusively serve Black, Latinx, and NHPI families in SF. As part of these underserved communities ourselves, we have first-hand experience dealing with various organizations and utilizing local resources. Here are my top 3 recommended resources for all underserved birthing families in SF.
1. Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP)
HPP has long served countless families in SF. They provide food pantry boxes, free diapers and wipes, clothing, car seats, cribs— you name it! HPP will usually find a way to help source any items a young family may need. Additionally, they treat pregnant mothers like queens with their array of wellness offerings, classes, a monthly baby shower, free maternity photos, belly casting, etc. Don't be fooled by the name, you do NOT have to be homeless to avail of everything HPP has to offer.
SF Diaper Bank, in conjunction with Help A Mother Out, provides low income families on Medi-Cal with diapers for all babies. Visit your nearest location with your ID (identification card) and Medi-Cal card in-hand and you'll walk out with 2 boxes a month. Click here to check out their locations.
POP UP with SisterWeb! At Pop Up Resource Village (@popupresourcevillage on Instagram) we are all about supporting families with FREE drop in therapy, hair cuts, dental screenings, acupuncture, and countless freebies (eg. bath salts, books, diapers, wipes, maternity clothes, etc). We have also recently added mobile ultrasound and prenatal services. There are representatives from various organization around SF including childcare, social services, housing assistance, resource centers, and much more. Bring the whole family over for free food and vibes, we pop up every 2nd Saturday of the month. Mark your calendars for all 2023 events:
March 11th- Women's History Month
April 8th- Black Maternal Health/National Poetry Month
May 13th- Mental Health Awareness/Mother's Day
June 10th- PRIDEful Juneteenth, Father’s Day
If you have specific questions about any of these resources, contact them directly as they are all open to the public. If you are a current SisterWeb client and have specific questions about these and other community resources, please contact Aimee at (415) 926-9893 or at a.mancha@sisterweb.org.
This blog post was written collaboratively by Aimee Mancha, SisterWeb's Community Resource Coordinator, and Sofía Carbone, SisterWeb's Communications Coordinator.