Seeking Sustainable Solutions to Period Poverty Amongst Homeless Women in Camden County, NJ

Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) – National Ambassadors is an effort for underserved high school, undergraduate, and medical students to collaborate on a research-based community service project to equip future health professionals with tools to heal their communities. The average woman spends up to 3500 days of their life menstruating. Menstrual health is therefore not just a fundamental human right, but a robust indicator of community well-being. Despite the biological inevitably of menstruation, barriers to practicing adequate menstrual hygiene, or “Period Poverty,” are far common and often ignored in public forums. Period products face a luxury goods sales tax in 35 states and cannot be purchased via social services programs such as Food Stamps or Medicaid. Most recent estimates suggest 66% of women from low-income households are unable to afford period products on a monthly basis. This lack of access is amplified in the homeless population. While initiatives to eradicate period poverty exist, they are lacking. Some states have legislation which mandates period products be accessible without fee in public spaces such as schools, but this often goes unenforced. Social service agencies distribute donated menstrual hygiene kits when available, but this is not a sustainable solution. Further, Period Poverty is rarely discussed in conversations regarding equality, healthcare, and human rights. Addressing Period Poverty requires understanding the specific barriers to why women within a particular community cannot practice adequate menstrual hygiene to inform sustainable solutions. We propose a service-based intervention targeting period poverty amongst homeless women in Camden County, NJ