Brief History

Pouches of Love was founded in 2019 after Founder, Janeca L. Werts underwent a life altering surgery leaving her with an ostomy pouch. Learning to grapple with her new life as an ostomate she realized that there had to be more people like her. With that the mission to assist ostomates everywhere was underway.   

Meet Us 

Our Mission

Pouches of Love supports individuals of all ages living with an ostomy—as well as their families—by providing free ostomy supplies, mental health therapy, and compassionate community support. Our mission is to promote dignity, healing, and quality of life for every ostomy patient through practical aid and emotional care.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” 

(President Barack Obama) 

A Note From Our Founder/President

Powerful words spoken by our former president seventeen years ago still evocative in my mind. More than likely one of the driving forces behind creating the organization Pouches of Love.  The thought of patients not having the essentials they need to live in their journey as an ostomate is disturbing.  Hearkening the countless request for supplies leads me to believe that we need to do more. 

While no one has been able to pinpoint the exact number of how many ostomy patients can’t afford their supplies, we know that the number is substantial.  The cost of supplies can range between $300-$600 monthly just for pouches and wafers without insurance.  This does not include the other necessities like powder, skin-prep wipes, belts and a host of other supplies.  Many have yet to divulge the fact that they are even wearing an ostomy pouch to ask for assistance.  This can create a financial hardship that is impossible to navigate leading to a lower quality of life for the patients. 

Furthermore, the quality of life without necessary supplies triggers potential for more health issues.  Infections resulting from a patient’s inability to regularly change the pouch and wafer can either be Bacterial or Fungal.  Noting that the purpose of the stoma was to save the life and relieve the patient’s anguish from the ailment that led to the stoma.  However, with the cost of ostomy supplies on the rise and insurance uncertainty there are more patients than ever that will have infections.  Understand that even patients with ample supplies can have infections, but the patients with inadequate or no coverage have a higher probability.   According to data from Definitive Healthcare, from the year of my surgery 2017 to 2023 there was a 6.5% increase in the cost of medical supplies.  Let that marinate for a while because the financial strain on ostomy patients is already onerous imagine adding an additional twenty to forty dollars in an already stretched budget.  When patients are unable to accomplish this we have the infections, more hospital bills, more troubles.  Now I thought we were relieving stress and bettering life with the stoma. 

Understand that most patients feel relief from ailments after obtaining their stomas, we must still deal with the new stressors from the stoma.  There will never be enough gratitude of the multitude of lives saved by the creations of these stomas, so to the doctors and nurses I am certain that we all say thank you. Now we must focus on establishing a system where all ostomates have the necessary supplies for greatness in their now saved lives.