萝莉社

Beth Tolbert was kicked out of the house when she was 17 years old. With no money and nowhere to go, she was homeless. For the next six years, she was one of tens of thousands of women on the street struggling to find not just food, shelter and employment, but also feminine hygiene products when she was having her period.

According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, the United States has the number of homeless women and children of any industrialized nation. Women account for percent of homeless individuals and percent of those who are homeless without shelter. That鈥檚 people, up almost from .

Although women are more likely to receive housing than men, they face unique challenges. Homeless women like Tolbert often comply with in homeless shelters. Another particular challenge is coping with menstruation while homeless.

Homeless women face a multitude of issues, including abuse鈥� percent of homeless mothers are believed to be victims of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. But some of the most frequently reported issues also include lack of or minimal access to feminine products, challenges in cleaning clothes during 鈥渁ccidents,鈥� and general dehumanization.

Lack of access to menstrual products affects these women in different ways. Occasionally, homeless women are fortunate enough to be given limited resources, but in the most likely event that they are not, they often make due with other common items like paper towels, napkins, toilet paper, or even socks.

Tolbert says she would use toilet paper when she couldn鈥檛 get feminine hygiene products, which she usually couldn鈥檛 afford. 鈥淚 hate to admit it, but I would steal tampons when I could. I learned how to break into vending machines,鈥� she says. 鈥淢enstrual products were a privilege, and I was conditioned to feel ashamed of my period.鈥�

It was no different for Jessica Sutherland, president and co-founder of Homeless to Higher Ed, and the marketing director at The Establishment, a media company that highlights marginalized voices through their featured stories. She can easily recall the hard times her own family endured.

鈥淚t was challenging to make sure there were menstrual products available to me.鈥�

Sutherland says her living arrangements were spotty as a young child, but her most memorable experience with homelessness began with a summer visit to a relative鈥檚 house.

鈥淢y mom told me to pack for a summer at my aunt鈥檚,鈥� Sutherland says. But that summer stay lasted through the fall. 鈥淲e left my aunt鈥檚 for a string of motels in November, and were in a homeless shelter by Christmas.鈥� She was 12 years old.

鈥淎fter that, it was a cycle of having an apartment for just long enough to get evicted, then motel hopping, then doubling up,鈥� she says. 鈥淎lways that cycle, year after year, until I walked into a foster home at 17.鈥�

That same Christmas Day while she was living at a Salvation Army shelter in Cleveland, Ohio, Sutherland had her first period. Suddenly her transient life became even more difficult as she struggled to find pads or tampons.

鈥淢y mom was depressed and wouldn鈥檛 help me. It was challenging to make sure there were menstrual products available to me, that we could afford them. I used a lot of wadded up paper products when there wasn鈥檛 money for tampons,鈥� she says.

Sadly, homemade solutions often make things worse instead of better. When individuals who menstruate are forced to make their own pads and tampons or use tampons for an extended period of time, they are at increased risk for infections and other harmful health conditions like toxic shock syndrome.

Menstruation can be messy, embarrassing, and painful for many women.

Tolbert and Sutherland鈥檚 struggles reflect systemic problems at the intersection of women鈥檚 issues, access to health care, and poverty. Menstruation can be messy, embarrassing, and painful for many women. But for homeless women, it鈥檚 an additional setback鈥攆inancially and self-sufficiently.

Menstruation is costly. Pads and tampons cost. Feminine wipes cost. Pain medication costs. Replacing soiled clothing costs. The average woman in a developed nation spends  for period-related items. The cost can force menstruating homeless women to choose between buying a hygiene product or a meal.

But a small organization in Lansing, Michigan, hopes to change that for the women in their town.

is a grassroots nonprofit organization that provides menstrual products to homeless and low-income women.

Since it was established two years ago, co-founders Lysne Tait and Amy Stephenson have distributed over 120,000 products, including pads, tampons, liners and wipes.

Stephenson says the lack of access to menstrual products affects homeless women and non-binary individuals鈥� ability to be self-sufficient. She provides this scenario:

For the homeless population, it is an actual health risk to not have access to clean pads.

鈥淪he wakes up that morning to her period and that is yet another impediment to getting to her interview,鈥� Stephenson says. 鈥淗ow can she even attend the interview, housing appointment, doctor appointment without these basic necessities? For the homeless population, it is an actual health risk to not have access to clean pads and wipes. For all women, it is an issue of dignity.鈥�

According to the organization鈥檚 , donations have enabled HWP to acquire 69,337 pads, 64,834 tampons, 65,347 wipes, 27,146 panty liners, 5,210 bladder control liners, and 1,060 fabric bags. So far this year, HWP has secured 6,300 tampons, 8,000 pads, and 17,000 liners.

By partnering with local community organizations in Lansing, HWP has been able to fill its mission of supplying shelters and other places with feminine hygiene items, to help ensure that all women have the products they need, when they need them.

Since 2015, Redeemer Church has served approximately 4,000 women in need with the help of HWP. Once a week, those women can visit the church to pick up donated feminine hygiene prodcuts.

鈥淲e serve around 35-40 families a week, and when those families are choosing between food, heat, or personal care needs, Mom鈥檚 needs tend to be the last,鈥� says Suzie Unruh, the ministry assistant and food pantry coordinator at Redeemer. 鈥淭hanks to HWP鈥檚 efforts, Redeemer has been able to assist individuals who menstruate with their personal care needs.鈥�

Women have come out in large groups in solidarity to demand menstrual products.

The products HWP collects not only benefit those women who receive services from Redeemer, but many more citywide. Each month, the City of Lansing Human Relations and Community Services Department and the Greater Lansing Food Bank host the Mobile Food Pantry, which provides menstrual products in addition to free fresh and non-perishable food. Through their partnerships, they assist an estimated 400 families.

The support they鈥檝e received so far has been tremendous. Co-founder Tait says women have come out in large groups in solidarity to demand menstrual products.

She believes women understand the immense stress of being caught unprepared for a period and that has played a role in their high levels of support. But many women had no idea how large the need for menstrual products was prior to being presented with the data and hearing personal stories.

鈥淚 took it for granted, for myself and others,鈥� Tait says.

She says that privilege is an overlooked factor in access to resources. She has been asked, for example, why HWP doesn鈥檛 supply Diva Cups. But women need clean restrooms or other facilities in order to use many alternative products like Diva Cups, and those are luxuries many transient people can’t afford. Meanwhile, other women forgo alternative products for cultural or religious reasons, Tait says.

Stephenson believes that in addition to increasing access to products, it鈥檚 also important to spread awareness of this particular issue for homeless women. 鈥淭he greater 鈥榤eta鈥� impact is increasing the conversation around this issue to everyone in our community,鈥� she says. 鈥淓ven if HWP folded up tomorrow, people in our area would now know to donate pads/tampons to food banks and shelters, where before they did not.鈥�

Leaving a lasting impact requires three things, she explains: using your natural skills, getting started, and most importantly being willing to look at the world through someone else’s experience.

鈥淎t 46 years old, it never occurred to me a woman would be reduced to going to a gas station and using toilet paper or a sock to get through a week on her period,鈥� Stephenson says.