Menstrual Health Education

Youth Economic Advancement (sponsored by Funding Partner, TBA)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

Menstrual health education is the specific area we are working to address. According to a 2021 survey centered on the state of the periods of students in the U.S.; 1 out of 4 teens miss class because of lack of access to period products, 23% of students have struggled to afford period products, 77% of students believe there needs to be more in- depth education about menstrual health, 51% of students have worn period products for longer than recommended, 85% of students agree that public schools should provide free period products, and 65% agree that society teaches people to be ashamed of their periods. We know that low income women from racial minority backgrounds are disproportionately affected and from the 2019 census we know Los Angeles County minority population is “73%” , which is a large portion of the population that has a higher rate of being susceptible to reproductive health issues.

FLOW, our period care program is an activation for introducing menstrual health methods and safe products for pre-teens to young adults. This program is essentially an in-person event that includes a structured workshop with a comprehensive lesson plan. Participants will have an opportunity to learn in depth about menstruation including menstrual products, menstrual-related disorders, and self-care strategies. Participants will be able to take advantage of the workshop by not only going into detail about menstruation but also having questions answered by a facilitator who is knowledgeable in menstrual health. Each participant will also receive free period products to take home at the end of the event. With this program we will also present the option to install our vending machine, we named PPE, which stands for "Period Protection Essentials". This dispenser is suitable for public spaces like school campuses, libraries, community centers, or even shelters that are in need of menstrual products, like pads, tampons, and panty liners.

In April 2022 The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion authored by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, First District, and co-authored by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, Third District, on the implementation of a pilot program providing hygiene products at select County facilities.The motion directs the County, all partnering departments, and relevant stakeholders to work on a pilot program providing feminine hygiene products and other personal care items at select County venues, plus to identify funding and a future plan for expansion if determined successful. The motion does not include educational resources so this is where #HappyPeriod's program could be most impactful and helpful to LA County, as there's an alignment for a partnership. We can work with the County to provide our program, including our resources and a dispenser, at select venues. This way communities will have access to menstrual care education and safe period products.

We have created several measuring tools to help us understand the quantitative and qualitative impact around period poverty and menstrual health awareness. We have created numerous assessments to collect data from the public to be able to inform what needs to be included in our curriculum and programs. Our assessments have given us data around age, ethnicity, location, symptoms, treatments and even experiences with doctors. We also measure our #HappyPeriod for Self program with Pre and Post assessments. This helps us understand our program's impact with girls ages 9-17 and the education that is learned from the program. Evaluation results from the most recent workshop of 23 participants includes: - 8 teenaged girls said they did not know a lot about periods however 22 said by the end of the workshop they had more knowledge - 22 out of 23 felt comfortable sharing their thoughts about periods or details about their own period - 22 out of 23 learned something new about their body.