COMMUNITY PROFILE CREDIT: GILES CLASEN period products, that also means they don’t have diapers, and they’ll sacrifice period products for diapers.” This flash-of-lightening inspiration led to a significant change for Cushman Neal. She contacted the Jewish Family Service’s food program and suggested that they host a drive for food and hygiene products. She explained to them that she would help, but she would have to work in isolation, as she couldn’t risk exposure to others due to her cystic fibrosis and delicate lungs. JFS food program’s annual fall food drive in 2020 was held virtually due to COVID-19. Cushman Neal had been working with an organic, eco-friendly period company. She’d negotiated favorable pricing for the period products, and her goal was to secure a similar pricing arrangement with a diaper company to maximize the funds raised. The drive ran parallel with the JFS annual food drive for 30 days raising the equivalent of 6,000 months of period products and 80,000 diapers. Pleased with the result, Cushman Neal thanked the pantry staff and suggested they do it again next year. In response, they said, “Oh no, your work is not finished at all, you need to keep going.” So, she did, and along the way, Justice Necessary was born. Today, Cushman Neal is building on that success in the wake of external circumstances that continue to force too many into choosing to go without period products and diapers so that they can feed their families. A report published in 2022 by Justice Necessary found that 47% of Colorado women experience period poverty. Period poverty refers to the struggle women face when trying to afford menstrual products. To address this struggle Justice Necessary is delivering personal hygiene products to schools, food pantries, and outreach organizations to meet immediate hygiene needs in Colorado communities. A few of their partners include CU Denver, The Salvation Army, Jeffco Public Schools, and the Period Menstrual Movement. “People aren’t paying attention to this issue [of period poverty],” said Kate Swindell, a team member for the organization PERIOD – a nonprofit working to eradicate period poverty globally. “It’s a think globally, act locally type of movement right now.” According to Swindell, PERIOD was established through the passion of 16-year-old Nadya Okamata from Portland, Oregon, who gave a name and face to the problem of period poverty. PERIOD, which is made up of 10 women, strives to eradicate period poverty and stigma through advocacy such as their worldwide Period Action Day. Swindell said that “Giving people language and helping people feel comfortable with their bodies and their biological processes,” is the most rewarding part of her work with PERIOD. “Getting comfortable with the word [period] and talking about menstruation has been the coolest thing to see. People say it, own it, and use it.” Assistance programs in Colorado, such as Women, Infants, and Children and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, don’t cover the costs of diapers, baby wipes, or feminine hygiene products. What’s more, the FDA’s decision in February 2023 to cut extra funding to government programs like SNAP, and months of unusually high inflation, have battered many struggling families and reduced their buying power by magnitudes. “So, when that happened, people in Colorado lost an average of $90 per person [per month] in their household…,” said Cushman Neal. “A family of four that was receiving food benefits through SNAP would lose a total of $360 [per month] in the ability to buy groceries. For a senior receiving $212 [per month] it went down to $23 [per month]. [When] you think about that and then you reflect that back on your grocery bill, hygiene becomes one of the last things.” According to Cushnman Neal, because SNAP and WIC benefits don’t cover hygiene product expenses, food pantries are stretched to their limits, and most are in dire need of hygiene products, specifically feminine hygiene products, diapers, and baby wipes. Cushman Neal said that in just one month, Justice Necessary’s partner agencies experienced a 467% increase in requests for period products. “If you don’t have to go out without your hygiene products, you quite often don’t put yourself in the shoes of someone who might,” said Wendy Z, who asked that her last name be withheld for privacy. According to Wendy Z, without Justice Necessary’s work to ensure that basic hygiene products are available at food pantries, she would not have been able to get the necessary products she needed. “If everyone had access to period products it would be a miracle,” she said. Period poverty impacts menstruators physically, medically, emotionally, and socially. In 2022, Justice Necessary surveyed 1,256 Coloradans who identified as female between the ages of 18-40 about their access to period products in the past 12 months and how that impacted their daily lives. Sixty-seven percent of women felt uncomfortable and stressed out when they didn’t have adequate access to period products. Fortyone percent of respondents used period products longer than recommended, and 38% of women missed personal activities due to period poverty. By using hygiene products longer than recommended, menstruators are at risk for bacterial infections, skin irritations, and a slew of other health problems caused by a lack of access to clean and hygienic products. Continued on page 8 February 2024 DENVER VOICE 7
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