The Monthlies Project

The Monthlies Project is a community initiative providing menstrual health products to school-aged students and bringing awareness to the issue of period poverty and the educational inequity it creates.

Lack of menstrual health products contributes to a growing issue, period poverty. Not only does period poverty negatively impact physical, mental, and emotional health, it can create a barrier to equal opportunity in education. Lack of access to menstrual health products can cause students with periods to miss or be late to class or feel anxious about period care. 84% of young menstruators in school reported to have personally or known someone who missed class due to lack of access to menstrual health products (De La Rose 2019; Smith and Straus 2019). Additionally,
66% of teens report they don’t want to be at school during their period due to shame and self-consciousness (De La Rosa 2019). Chronic absenteeism affects achievement in school and leads to educational inequity.

Unfortunately, other public assistance programs designed to help those facing financial hardships, such as SNAP and WIC, are not permitted to be used to purchase menstrual health products. The average menstruator spends $13.25 each month, equating to over $6,000 over the course of an average reproductive lifespan (age 12-52) (Sadlier 2019), which makes this an issue of economic inequity.

The Monthlies Fund within the Women’s Fund for the Fox Valley Region, will be a resource to schools and community programs in the Fox Valley to access menstrual health products. Programs can apply for menstrual health products and/or support for product distribution.

To learn more and donate to the fund, visit monthliesproject.com.

More details to come!