Cascadia Tech Academy HOSA members are partnering with sharevancouver.org to collect menstrual hygiene products.
In total, people with periods spend around six to seven years of their lives menstruating. A key priority for them is to have the necessary hygiene products to manage menstruation hygienically, and with dignity.
Those who are experiencing homelessness and/or living in low-income households are at increased risk of serious health issues, challenges in cleaning clothes during their menstrual cycles and general dehumanization due to a lack of access to menstrual products.
FACTS:
- Menstrual products cannot be purchased with food stamps and are expensive.
- People with periods may resort to using anything they can find for free, like newspaper, paper towels, toilet paper, socks or rags – often rinsing out and reusing materials .
- Those hoping to make tampons last, often don’t change them as regularly as they should, causing health issues from infections to death from toxic shock syndrome.
When people with periods have access to safe and affordable sanitary materials to manage their menstruation, they decrease their risk of infections. Silence about this issue is common, as to avoid embarrassment.
We are soliciting your help by requesting everyone to bring a new, unopened box of menstrual pads or tampons.
