Motherland Essentials and Momma Lips Draws are collaborating on a project aimed at raising awareness for autism and supporting families to meet their children’s needs.
Founders of the local businesses, Andrea Davis (Motherland Essentials) and Jessie Lipscomb (Momma Lips Draws), are putting together Autism Awareness Boxes, care packages filled with goodies for caretakers and their children and information to help guide them moving forward.
“The boxes were meant for, as a caretaker, you still need to take time to care for yourself,” Davis said. “But also, we have informational resources people can refer to if they want to know more about autism.”
The packages are stuffed with Motherland Essentials’ items like bath bombs, lotion bars, body creams each one includes a unique bar of soap crafted by Davis and her son.
Davis and Lipscomb both have children with autism and have both organized projects to support the autism community. This effort marks the first time they’ve collaborated. Davis said there isn’t a whole lot of information out there as far as treatment for children with autism.
“Treatment is lifelong for some people,” Davis said. “the cost is always going to be there, and sometimes that can be above what a family can afford. We just wanted to prove some self care and education for people.”
“We wanted to bring awareness and acceptance to autism, especially in the (Black, Indigenous and people of color) community,” Lipscomb added. “As parents and caregivers of kids on the spectrum, it’s so important to inform others about autism and hopefully educate parents about early signs in their kids.”
With April marking Autism Awareness Month, now was the perfect time to launch the project, Davis said. And, there’s more to come in the future. “So far, we’re just doing preorders of the box and we are only doing like 30 boxes to gauge the interest,” she told us earlier this week.
Davis explained that if the project is successful, they will move to 50 boxes for the month, and maybe even more long-term.
The boxes are available for pre-order online until they are sold out. A portion of the profits goes to The Color of Autism, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting families of color with autism to services.
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