Homeless Women Struggle With Periods

(Newswire.net — January 3, 2018) Cheyenne, Wyoming — It is one thing to have a heavy period, ever-lasting period or even agonizing cramps. It’s a totally different thing to experience it without the basic feminine hygiene comforts. Many women living on the streets or dependent on shelters are faced with the dilemma of menstruation without access to the sanitary applications most ladies take for granted. 

“There are 50,000 women living on the streets nationwide, and with limited access to pads and tampons, and no steady, comfortable place to shower, they are forced to get creative with ways to keep clean when they have their periods,” explains Bustle. “Some use socks, paper towels, plastic bags, toilet paper, towels, cotton balls, or clothing in place of hygiene products.” 

Everything is a struggle for a homeless person but being a homeless woman comes with the inevitably added stress of bleeding a number of days each month and scrambling for ways to stay clean. Unfortunately, some women have found themselves so desperate that they end up stealing pads and tampons, which is a crazy thought to imagine yourself squeezed into a position of stealing due to the flow of your period. 

While stealing is a line many homeless women refuse to cross, there are other unacceptable actions they will pursue in attempts to control the menstruation mess. Many desperate women have become rather ingenious in handling the situation as previously highlighted. In fact, one woman has even taken to deconstructing a single pad for materials to craft multiple improvised tampons. As unhygienic as creating one’s own makeshift menstruation implements may sound, it’s the only hygienic option available to most homeless women.

 “Not only is it terrible, but it’s also embarrassing,” says Kailah Willcuts, a homeless woman who’s been living on the streets around a decade now. “Not to mention that now you have this stain on your pants. I only have the clothes that I’m wearing, so I’m standing there half naked, bloodied, you know, washing my clothes out.” 

The obvious sanitary and health concerns emerging from such circumstances are staggering. This isn’t a coffee or ketchup stain we’re talking about here, they’re dealing with blood. Hemoglobin, bacteria, microorganism and all that comes with blood left resting on the skin unaddressed at length. 

These are the issues now coming to the forefront of those in a position to help homeless women. Charity groups, shelters and even state councils are starting to really focus on the menstrual issues faced by women who are homeless. In Johnston, Iowa, there’s a special seven year old girl named Brenlyn Kuntson. When she learned of her mother’s involvement in charity work and upon hearing that homeless would buy food but not other stuff they needed, she immediately thought of women in need of sanitary products and thus created a Christmas wish movement she calls “Pagina Covers.” 

In such an innocent style as only a child can execute, “Pagina Covers” has become an instant hit with cash and donations of hygienic products flowing in from across America for delivery to women in homeless shelters. Alongside pads and tampons, vaginal suppositories which combat yeast and other fungal infections are important applications too.  

The HealthyWiser™ Femme-Fresh™ vaginal suppository has a boric acid formula which is medically-approved and gynecologist recommended for relieving discomforts and alleviating irritation. The Femme-Fresh™ vaginal suppository is available on Amazon so to donate it and any other feminine hygiene products, Brenlyn’s mom, Melissa Kuntson, may be connected on Facebook to arrange a delivery/collection.