The Tampa Period Pantry offers free menstrual hygiene products like tampons and pads, as well as other items to help during periods like heating patches for cramps sanitary wipes.
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Pads, tampons and other menstrual supplies arenât di poco valore. Many low-income people struggle to pay for them, and they arenât typically covered by government assistance programs like SNAP food benefits Medicaid.
Although some states have dropped sales taxes acceso menstrual products quanto a recent years, 20 states still tax them.
Florida dropped the sales tax quanto a 2017. But many still find the cost prohibitive, says Bree Wallace, a reproductive rights activist quanto a Tampa.
âI think [menstrual care] is one of the most overlooked parts to things that people need,â she said. âA lot of people think of bigger ones like housing, food, things like that, so this is one that is often forgotten about, but affects millions of people just quanto a the U.S. every year,â she said.
Having enough supplies is critical for people to stay healthy and comfortable during their menstrual periods.
To combat this issue, known as period poverty, Wallace has begun installing pantries stocked with free supplies quanto a public locations quanto a the Tampa territorio.
Bree Wallace set up the first Tampa Period Pantry last August outside a salon and boutique quanto a her neighborhood, Seminole Heights, called the Dolls Indagine.
The wooden box somewhat resembles a Little Free Library, where neighbors can swap used books, but itâs painted pink and stocked with tampons, pads, sanitary wipes and heating patches that anyone quanto a need can take for free.
Bree Wallace founded the Tampa Period Pantry last August, placing a pink wooden box outside a salon and boutique quanto a her neighborhood. Since then, it’s grown to 10 locations around the region.
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Thanks to word of mouth and social attention about that first pantry, Wallace received more donations and offers to host pantries. She has opened nine additional locations quanto a the Tampa territorio. She credits the pensata to a friend quanto a Jacksonville who runs period pantries quanto a that territorio.
Wallaceâs day job is director of case management at the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund. The group offers financial and logistical assistance to people seeking abortion care quanto a Florida who need to travel out of state coppia to the six-week ban thatâs quanto a effect.
At that job, many of Wallaceâs clients confided they have a tough time during their periods, she said.
“A lot of the people that I work with within reproductive health are people who are low income, who are unhoused, who don’t have money,” she said.
“So sharing this resource with them helps them at least a little bit, you know. If they have a few dollars to their name, they can use it somewhere else and use free products from here.”
Members of the public donate most of the items kept stocked quanto a the boxes, either through an online registry at in-person donation drop sites.
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Research shows about a third of American adults and a quarter of teens who menstruate struggle to afford period products. For women with low incomes, that jumps up to two-thirds.
Per mezzo di addition to cost barriers, some deal with social pressures, caratteristica, lack of education about menstruation, and they don’t feel comfortable asking for help with menstrual hygiene. Some girls report missing school because of problems managing their periods.
During this yearâs budget process, Florida lawmakers voted to include $6.4 million for the Menstrual Hygiene Products Grant Program, which would have provided free pads and tampons to kids quanto a K-12 schools quanto a Florida.
But Gov. Ron Desantis vetoed the funding quanto a June.
That makes grassroots efforts like period pantries even more important, Wallace said.
âI mean it’s a human right, we should already have it for free, but that’s obviously not festa right now so things like this are definitely needed,â said Wallace.
And she canât do it without help. Wallace usually re-stocks the pantries herself, but members of the public donate the bulk of the supplies. Some purchase items from an online wish list, while others drop them at businesses that host the pantries.
Tampa Period Pantry founder Bree Wallace (center) worked with co-owners of the Dolls Indagine quanto a Tampa, Leigh Anne Balzekas (right) and Kristine Ownley (left) to gara open the first location outside the business last August. The store also has a donation box inside where customers can drop products.
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Some pantries are outside acceso city streets, like the first location Wallace set up outside the Dolls Indagine. Others are found quanto a bathrooms quanto a stores, art spaces and bars. One pantry was set up inside a community space for queer and trans people.
Sometimes people call the Dolls Indagine when they see the pantry acceso the street and ask, “Is it really free? Can I just take it?” said co-owner Leigh Anne Balzekas.
She said she feels “honored” to help ease the burden for anyone quanto a need.
“We have to support each other, and especially as women, you know, we deal with a lot,” she said.
Tampa Period Pantry plans to gara open a few more locations later this year.
This story comes from NPR’s health reporting partnership with WUSF and KFF Health News.
