By Dr. Erin Kalkbrenner, Give the Basics Wichita
Giving the Basics Wichita is empowering girls in Wichita, Kansas by distributing free menstrual products in schools – 158 schools and counting. Period products are not covered by government assistance programs and oftentimes students who have difficulty obtaining period supplies also have trouble getting good information about their menstrual health. Last year, with the support of the Alliance for Period Supplies, we were able to distribute copies of A Girl’s Guide to Puberty & Periods to all of our city’s middle schools.
Now another Funds for Change grant from Alliance for Period Supplies is allowing us to create English and Spanish pamphlets with basic information about periods and menstrual health. We will also put educational posters in school restrooms in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Our schools have a large Spanish-speaking population, and given the large health disparities faced by Hispanics, we are determined to reach them. Unfortunately, Hispanic students have the lowest health literacy rates of all ethnicities in the US, oftentimes due to language barriers and lack of access to Spanish health educational materials.
Empowering and Educating
We partner with nurses at each school to distribute hygiene items on a monthly basis to students in need. The phenomenal school nurses who coordinate these programs with us in every school were happy to get A Girl’s Guide to Poverty. We look forward to introducing the new pamphlets with them. Our Funds for Change grant will also support an appreciation event for these nurses, where we’ll gain valuable feedback about how we can best serve students together.
We know that providing period products in schools is a tool for girls’ empowerment because it improves attendance, health, and self-esteem. So many students come from families in need, that we know this service is essential. Currently in Wichita Public Schools, 78.7% of students come from homes of poverty and more than 1,400 students are homeless.
Oftentimes our partner schools and agencies share stories of those whom they serve; some of the hardest stories to hear about are those of when girls are abused, verbally and physically, in their homes when they get their period.
When a family cannot afford the products a young person needs to manage their menstruation, it leads to tremendous stress and frustration. This increases our resolve to get period products to everyone who needs them. It also increases our resolve to use our platform to fight against the stigma that unfortunately still lingers around menstruation. You can already see young people effectively breaking down stigma with social media and other tools. I am confident that someday restrooms will routinely be stocked with period supplies, just as they are now stocked with toilet paper. The middle and high school students we serve will hopefully be part of driving that change.
More Than Period Products
Giving the Basics Wichita distributes a wide range of products such as laundry detergent, pads and tampons, toothpaste, soap, toilet paper, shampoo, and other items hygiene related, anything people need to stay clean and healthy. We think that talking about all these items as part of the same mission is one step toward ending stigma around periods. If you’re not embarrassed about using shampoo, why be embarrassed about using menstrual pads?
Stocking many items also takes us beyond working to end period poverty to working to end poverty, period. I would encourage my fellow basic needs bank leaders to consider filling out the range of products you offer to ensure that people do not have to do without any material basic necessity. Offering items such as toilet paper, soap, or a toothbrush can change someone’s life and can potentially mitigate just one of the daily stressors so many of those in need experience.
Recent Comments