There's a grassroots effort to make menstrual products more accessible in the Tampa Bay region.
Bree Wallace founded the first Tampa Period Pantry last summer outside the Disco Dolls Studio, a sustainable department store in the Tampa neighborhood of Seminole Heights.
The pink wooden box contains items like tampons, pads, sanitary wipes and heating patches that anyone in need can take for free.
Nine more locations have opened around Hillsborough and Pinellas counties since, with a goal to address what's known as a period poverty, or the inability to afford or access menstrual products.
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. In addition to cost barriers, some deal with social pressures and don't feel comfortable asking for help with menstrual hygiene.
Wallace credits a friend in Jacksonville who runs period pantries for her inspiration to take up the cause in the Tampa region. Wallace also works with the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, which offers financial and logistical assistance to people seeking abortion care.
Many of those clients have told Wallace 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."
Wallace mostly stocks the pantries herself, but much of the supplies are donated by the public. Some purchase items on an online wish list she set up while others drop them off at businesses that host the pantries.
The Disco Dolls Studio recently added a box for donations inside its boutique. Owner Leigh Anne Balzekas said she sometimes gets calls from people who see the pantry on the street and ask, "Is it really free? Can I just take it?"
Balzekas said she's "honored" to help ease the burden for anyone in need.
"We have to support each other, and especially as women, you know, we deal with a lot," she said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently vetoed $6.4 million in funding for the Menstrual Hygiene Products Grant Program, which would have provided free pads and tampons to kids in K-12 schools in Florida.
Here's where you can find a Period Pantry in the Tampa Bay area:
- Disco Dolls Studio, 4220 N. Florida Ave., Tampa
- La Femme Institute, 1150 County Road 1, Palm Harbor
- Cafe Hey, 1540 N. Franklin St., Tampa
- Corner Club - 1502 E. Sligh Ave., Tampa
- Plantas and Tinta, 1715 N. Howard Ave., Suite C, Tampa
- Factory St. Pete, 2606 Fairfield Ave. S., St. Petersburg
- Blxckout Beauty, 6726 N. Florida Ave., Tampa
- Shuffle, 2612 N. Tampa St., Tampa
- Queer Expressions - location private
- Sustainable Living Project, 918 W. Sligh Ave, Tampa
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