COMMUNITY ONE BLOG

Period Equity for All: 2022 Rainbow Grants Recipient

Over the coming weeks we’re sharing the 39 stories of our 2022 Rainbow Grants recipients! All of these deserving projects are receiving critical grant funding as a result of your generous donations to Community One Foundation. Read more and support these projects where you can! If you’d like to see more work like this supported in our community, please consider donating to Community One!

FOUNDATION GRANT (available for up to $7,500 and are open to registered charities or groups trusteed by a registered charity)

Created by The Period Purse, Period Equity for All will benefit and serve 2SLGBTTIQQ+ individuals in the Toronto community by providing a full range of free period products in all washrooms (dispensers included) and free comprehensive training on reusable period products. 

This project targets drop-in centres, transitional housing/shelters which serve the BIPOC/QT population in Toronto (The 519, Friends of Ruby, and Anishnawbe Health). The Period Purse builds a strong rapport with the community to understand the appropriate period products that best suit the community to meet their needs. Free period products will be offered in all washrooms because menstruation is not limited to women.

The Period Purse (TPP) strives to achieve menstrual equity by providing people who menstruate with access to free menstrual products, and to reduce the stigma surrounding periods. Their vision is for all people who menstruate to experience healthy periods with dignity. 

TPP has three pillars: 

Outreach- getting free period products to those who need it. In 2021, TPP donated 875,456 period products in our communities. In total, they donated over 3 million period products across Canada. 26% of their period products are purchased, the rest are donated in-kind from companies and individuals.

Education- educating people around periods to reduce the stigma of periods. In 2021, they educated almost 1,200 people about periods.

Advocacy- to make long-lasting policy changes. TPP has worked with all three levels of government to make policy changes.