Community in Bleeding - Vancouver's Period Pantry

By Taylor Neal

Have you ever noticed those little free library boxes scattered throughout the neighbourhoods as you meander the residential streets of Vancouver? These sweet, often home-made little libraries offer a chance to cultivate anti-consumerist community through the sharing and exchanging of literature, to make books and reading accessible to all without expectation of anything in return, and to recognize our shared desire to feel connected to one another on common ground – the street. People peep their eyes in as they pass by, take or leave a book, and continue on with their day. No questions asked, no expectations, no shame in the free access and community circulation of resources. Now, imagine this same concept, the free library box, but instead of books it is filled with tampons.

Continually dissatisfied by the lack of accessibility to menstrual products and the general social stigma surrounding menstruation, two Vancouver-based humans have taken it upon themselves to create a space for accessibility and community surrounding menstrual equity in a “no policing,” accessible to all way.

Vancouver’s Period Pantry, located at E 6th street between Commercial & Victoria, has taken the all humans, no question’s asked, free access philosophy of the free library box, and applied it to menstruation. Period products for everyone!

Kelly and Renee, co-founders of the project, saw a gaping hole in Vancouver’s community where mutual aid and support should always be. “We both came to support this issue from different angles. Renee, having worked in social work realms had seen the lack of access to menstrual products and the impact first hand. Myself, I had seen it within school settings. The lack of access, the shame that surrounded the issue, the lack of education for who menstruates, what is involved and why everyone needs to learn about it. We ended up meeting at a menstrual-equity focused, community action group and got to chatting about the ways we could take action to address this massive issue.” – Kelly & Renee, Founders.

The number one focus of the project is to spark conversation and generate community surrounding menstruation. Often this topic and conversation is kept behind closed doors, leaving folks feeling isolated, shameful in asking for help, and without space to speak openly as a menstruating human with needs. The pantry then, placed right out in the street for everyone to see and access, invites community members to stop, first to inquire about what the box is for and read the information card, but then to perhaps take what they need and feel encouraged to do so. Furthermore, it is the hope of its creators that the Period Pantry will prompt folks to reflect on why they may feel shock or discomfort surrounding such an unapologetic display of menstruation as they walk away. “Why does something like this even need to exist? Why aren’t menstrual products free, for everyone, everywhere? We hope this leads to a greater change in how we talk about menstruation, how we view menstruation and how we address it as a culture.”

The pantry operates as a mutual-aid project, meaning that “everyone takes care of it, fills it, uses it.” It is operated by the community for the community, just like the book boxes, and since it’s installation the pantry has consistently seen both familiar and unfamiliar faces stocking its shelves with a variety of menstrual products from passersby. Even if it’s just a single (un-used) tampon or a couple of pads, each donation helps someone, saves someone that moment of panic in the bathroom when they realize they don’t have any products with them.

Further, its founders are adamant to maintain a “no policing” philosophy surrounding the pantry’s operation, meaning that people accessing, whoever they are, are community members and simply fellow humans with the right to access necessities. The pantry operates on trust and communal love, gate-keeping resources is simply not allowed Especially with items that should be free and accessible for all to begin with.

“We really wanted to ensure that anyone who accesses the pantry can do so with dignity and safety. We wanted to ensure everyone knows that you can take as much as you’d need/like to without judgement. We often police each other, consciously and unconsciously, and we want to ensure the pantry is a police-free zone. We want to remind each other that we can trust each other, we can support each other, and we can care for each other without stipulations or things in return.”

And it must be repeated over and over again, that this is not just for humans who menstruate. It is work and advocacy that must be done for the wellbeing of the community as a whole – bleeding and non-bleeding folks alike. “We really see it as a project for all – everyone who menstruates, everyone who supports someone who menstruates, anyone curious about why menstrual- inequity exists, anyone who sees it and wants to know more. In terms of the gendered associations with menstruation, we want to avoid gendering anything because we know that anyone can bleed. We want to ensure the pantry is a safe space for all to know they can and should access it anytime they need it.”

It is a chance to check-in with yourself and to recognize where you stand and what the structures are around you that cause such simple, necessary things to be out of reach for so many people. “Menstrual inequity exists for many reasons and in turn there is not one singular solution. It is tied to so many intersecting systemic issues: poverty, housing, food security, racism, education/stigma, and the overarching systems that impact and affect these issues like capitalism, colonialism and the patriarchy.” While menstrual inequity is not something that can be solved overnight, the primary way to move towards a more supportive, educated cultural landscape in general is to foster community from the ground up, dismantling one barrier at a time, and recognizing the sameness in the other when we come together in physical space to give and receive care.

“In order for there to be systemic change on issues, the issues need to be reflected on and addressed with the awareness and knowledge that they are interconnected, so not looking at menstrual inequity as a stand-alone issue but rather seeing it as a part of a greater problem – and all that the issue in turn impacts. But with something so heavily stigmatized such as menstruation and the bodies of those who menstruate in general, it can be challenging for folks to even know it exists as an issue and harder to see the ways its impacted and impacting other issues. The pantry is an opportunity to highlight that people regularly need access to necessary products, yet must rely on various sources to get it, such as community run initiatives, and it shouldn’t be that way. Yes, community needs to support one another, and we hope the pantry has inspired this, but these products are not a luxury, they are necessity, and anyone who menstruates should be able to access them anytime with dignity.”

Since the project’s birth in the spring of 2021, the community support has been constant and abundant, which speaks in great volume to the necessity of menstrual health resources in this part of the world. With more sustainable, healthier menstrual products kept at higher costs for those who can afford them, and many folks having to constantly choose between maxi pads and food during their bleed, The Period Pantry confronts the capitalistic, class-based distribution of menstrual products and information, and brings menstrual health and advocacy down onto the streets and into the hands of the public where it belongs.

“We see the need very clearly in the pantry’s use. Products come and go so quickly, we can have a large donation completely fill up the pantry and it will be gone and re-filled again in mere hours or a single day.”

Next time you’re in the Commercial Drive area, stop by to experience The Period Pantry for yourself. Take what you need and allow yourself a moment of reflection to evaluate where you stand and what you know of menstrual equity. How can we foster supportive community through this uniting, shared reality?

If you’re interested in getting involved, there are many ways to do so as this project grows and word spreads throughout the city.

You can donate products directly to the pantry itself (anything un-used/un-opened: period underwear; cups; pads; tampons – boxes or single wrapped – really anything menstruation related).

The team is now accepting financial donations. Financial donations can be e-transferred to our email: vancouver.periodpantry@gmail.com.

You can also stop by and send pictures, updates, feedback and questions to the project’s Instagram (@van.periodpantry)

If you are interested in hosting a pantry/starting your own, you can reach out to the team and they would be thrilled to chat about possibilities. If you also want to get involved in other ways let them know, there is no limit to supporting this work and they want to support anyone who wants to get involved!

Together, lets cultivate community this winter by caring for one another. Let’s bleed together. Let’s uplift access to menstrual products as necessity and work together in communal love.