The Homeless Period
“A woman in need.”
We all hear this phrase all the time… and we say this phrase a lot. Here at Pixie Cup, we give a menstrual cup to “a woman in need” for every cup purchased, but sometimes this phrase sounds just a little distant.
It doesn’t sound like someone you know. Maybe someone you love. Maybe someone just like…. you.
It’s like saying “out there somewhere, millions of miles from me, there is a new ‘menstrual cup user.’ Yay.”
It’s easy to think of sad things, and then move on. But the sad things are really REALLY important. Maybe those are the things that we should think about MORE.
Today, we wanted to give you a little glimpse into the reality of what “a woman in need” receiving a Pixie Cup actually does look like.
According to The 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, the amount of homeless women in the United States is 215,709. 215-freaking-thousand women. That’s a hecka big number. Of those, probably 60% are likely to experience a period this month.
Take a moment to imagine this. If you are woman in an unstable living environment, you have a lot on your mind. You are constantly trying to figure out where to spend the night, and where your next meal will come from, and are more concerned about personal safety than the “smaller” things like period products. Since you are not coming home to the same place every night, everything you own has to be portable. Also, if you are not able to maintain a healthy, nutritious diet, your period can be irregular and hard to predict. In addition to the simplest of needs such as clothes, toothbrush, soap, and small food items, do you have the extra room to lug around extra boxes of tampons and pads? Not to mention, where would you get the money to afford these items? The cost of menstrual products can be up to $15 or $20 each period!
Homeless women deal with these difficulties on a monthly basis, and have to struggle through the pain and mess of a period in the worst of conditions.
When we provide a homeless girl with a free menstrual cup, we offer her the gift of freedom.
We give her the freedom to sleep without fear of leaks when no restrooms are accessible. We give her the freedom to stay clean and sanitary without spending hundreds of dollars each year. We give her the freedom to be flexible to seek work, and not worry about whether or not she will be able to afford the next box of tampons.
When you buy a Pixie Cup for yourself or a friend, we give one Pixie Cup from you to one woman in need, which will provide her with period freedom for years to come.
Now that’s something to talk about.
If you already have a Pixie Cup but would like to donate another to a woman in need, you can do just that HERE!
