Project Period

We know the feeling all too well… You’re jolted awake by the familiar cramps and nausea. It’s the first day of your period. You drag yourself out of bed, shuffle to the bathroom, reach into the cabinet, and grab a pad or tampon—just like you do every month. You sigh, knowing it’s the start of another week of discomfort, but at least you’re prepared.

Now, imagine a different reality:

You wake up with the same cramps and nausea, but this time, you’re not sure if it’s from your period, the hunger from not eating yesterday, or dehydration from lack of clean water. You gather your belongings because leaving them behind isn’t an option—someone might take them. You make your way to the nearest public restroom, mentally retracing your steps, trying to remember if you used your last tampon. You dig through your backpack, checking every pocket, every corner. Nothing.

“Well, toilet paper it is,” you think to yourself—but the stall is empty. It usually is.

You count your remaining money, weighing an impossible choice: spend it on pads or buy food for the day. Both are basic necessities, but today, you can only afford one.

No one should have to make that choice.

In America, 15.2% of women aged 18-44 live below the poverty line. That percentage may seem small, but it represents nearly 10 million women struggling to meet basic needs. And that number doesn’t even include the countless girls under 18 who also experience period poverty—the inability to afford menstrual hygiene products.

To help address this issue, Her Courage to Speak is launching Project Period in Bay County, Florida, in February 2025. Our goal is to provide essential menstrual products to those in need by organizing a countywide donation drive. We’ll be placing donation boxes throughout the community, collecting pads, tampons, and other menstrual hygiene products.

We need your help. Your donations will go directly to women and girls in our community who are forced to make impossible choices between food, shelter, and basic hygiene.

Together, we can make period poverty a thing of the past.

Stay tuned on our website and instagram page to see where donation boxes will be located!