Periods aren’t fun—many of us break out, get super moody, crave all the chocolate, spend an afternoon on the couch with cramps. But imagine having your period while being homeless, with no access to a clean bathroom or a place to shower, without a couple extra dollars to buy sanitary supplies. This is unfortunate the reality that homeless women face every single day, but three feminist Intagrammers are working to make things a little easier for this already vulnerable population of ladies.
This week, Colvin Kuhn (@ms.notyourwifey), Mclaren Behrendt (@generationofwomen) and Sidney Hood (@foreverforthegirls) launched Period Packages. Period Packages is a project that aims to provide homeless women with sanitary products that they so desperately need.
“Through the online community we have learned about so many struggles and issues that we previously weren’t educated on, the homeless period being one of them,” Behrendt told The Huffington Post. “It was something we had never thought about, but decided was easy to help with. We are designing packs with tampons, pads, panty liners, sanitary wipes, and a little extra TLC (candies, mouthwash, lotion) basically anything we can find/afford that we think could be useful.”
The inspiring women behind Period Packages are striving to raise awareness about the difficulties homeless women endure during menstruation—but they also want to tackle the stigma surrounding periods in general.
“The problem is that periods are still so taboo which makes it hard to get people to really imagine what these women are forced to experience every month,” Hood said. “Our goal is to alleviate some of the discomfort that comes along with your period and help women feel more comfortable by giving them a convenient package that will allow them to properly care for themselves during ‘that time of the month.'”
Kuhn launched a GoFundMe page for Period Packages that has already exceeded its goal of $1,000. It’s great to see a group of women shed light on an issue that so few people ever talk about: We’re sure that their impressive work will make a positive impact on the lives of homeless women and beyond. Learn more about Period Packages here.
Image via: GoFundMe.
