Period Packs Fundraiser
Donation protected
Help Silicon Valley DSA raise funds for period packs for distribution to our unhoused neighbors in the South Bay.
San Jose's homeless and unsheltered population is over 4,350. In actuality, this number is likely to be much higher due to underreporting and has only been made worse by the pandemic. Thirty three percent identified as female, 1% as transgender, and 1% as neither female, transgender, or male. When you’re homeless, a regular meal and reliable shelter from the elements are already scarce, and one aspect that is often overlooked is items for menstrual hygiene.
Periods are uncomfortable. Period. They’re often painful, sometimes excruciatingly so and making any physical activity near impossible. When you’re homeless, it’s not easy to just reach for the ibuprofen in your medicine cabinet, take a hot shower, change underwear, or pop into a store to get a box of tampons. Sometimes being homeless means being forced to choose between using your limited money for your next meal or using it on supplies to manage your period. It can mean making do with toilet paper or simply going without and having to deal with bloodstained clothing. The impact on one's physical health and psychological well-being is substantial and well documented (check out the links below). Having a period is one more burden to carry in addition to the countless struggles that our unhoused neighbors face.
Two committees - Socialist Feminism and Mutual Aid Working Group - of Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America are collaborating to host this fundraiser in order to provide much needed menstrual hygiene kits. 100% of your donation money after gofundme’s processing fees will go toward the purchasing of pads, tampons, wet wipes, and other essentials to be assembled into kits and distributed during a day of service. While many of us who are housed may take these items for granted, they go a long way in affirming a homeless person’s dignity and well-being, as well as restoring a bit of much needed normalcy in their lives.
Please consider donating if you can, and help spread the word. We’ll have updates on this page as well Silicon Valley DSA's social media on how you can participate in the service event. Stay tuned! Read more about menstruation and homelessness:
"The experiences of menstruation by homeless women: a preliminary report" by Shailini Vora
"Periods are a monthly crisis for homeless women" by Liz Pfeffer of KALW Public Radio in San Francisco
"Menstrual hygiene plight of homeless women, a public health disgrace" by Allegra Parrillo
Disclaimer: Silicon Valley DSA is a 501(c)4 and donations to this fund are NOT tax deductible to the donor.
Please contact the email provided with any questions/concerns
San Jose's homeless and unsheltered population is over 4,350. In actuality, this number is likely to be much higher due to underreporting and has only been made worse by the pandemic. Thirty three percent identified as female, 1% as transgender, and 1% as neither female, transgender, or male. When you’re homeless, a regular meal and reliable shelter from the elements are already scarce, and one aspect that is often overlooked is items for menstrual hygiene.
Periods are uncomfortable. Period. They’re often painful, sometimes excruciatingly so and making any physical activity near impossible. When you’re homeless, it’s not easy to just reach for the ibuprofen in your medicine cabinet, take a hot shower, change underwear, or pop into a store to get a box of tampons. Sometimes being homeless means being forced to choose between using your limited money for your next meal or using it on supplies to manage your period. It can mean making do with toilet paper or simply going without and having to deal with bloodstained clothing. The impact on one's physical health and psychological well-being is substantial and well documented (check out the links below). Having a period is one more burden to carry in addition to the countless struggles that our unhoused neighbors face.
Two committees - Socialist Feminism and Mutual Aid Working Group - of Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America are collaborating to host this fundraiser in order to provide much needed menstrual hygiene kits. 100% of your donation money after gofundme’s processing fees will go toward the purchasing of pads, tampons, wet wipes, and other essentials to be assembled into kits and distributed during a day of service. While many of us who are housed may take these items for granted, they go a long way in affirming a homeless person’s dignity and well-being, as well as restoring a bit of much needed normalcy in their lives.
Please consider donating if you can, and help spread the word. We’ll have updates on this page as well Silicon Valley DSA's social media on how you can participate in the service event. Stay tuned! Read more about menstruation and homelessness:
"The experiences of menstruation by homeless women: a preliminary report" by Shailini Vora
"Periods are a monthly crisis for homeless women" by Liz Pfeffer of KALW Public Radio in San Francisco
"Menstrual hygiene plight of homeless women, a public health disgrace" by Allegra Parrillo
Disclaimer: Silicon Valley DSA is a 501(c)4 and donations to this fund are NOT tax deductible to the donor.
Please contact the email provided with any questions/concerns
Organizer
N S
Organizer
San Jose, CA
