Kindred spirits deliver support for homeless women

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This article was published 30/12/2016 (3058 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last Wednesday, boxes and bags of feminine hygiene products were scattered across the living and dining rooms in Jackie Hunt’s St Adolphe home.

The products—all donations—were being assembled into period packs by volunteers and will be distributed to homeless and underprivileged women across Winnipeg and southern Manitoba.

The project that took over Hunt’s home last week came to fruition after she shared a video with her longtime friend, Christina Redmond.

Hunt, who is the mayor of the RM of Ritchot, has been best friends with Redmond for 35 years.

When she saw a video online depicting the struggles homeless women go through while menstruating, she knew she and Redmond needed to do something.

“I had no idea. We just take for granted that periods are inconvenient and messy. But how does a woman who doesn’t have anything cope? [The video] showed a woman sitting there, on all her possessions, not moving because she thought if she didn’t move, it would slow it down. It was shocking,” said Hunt.

“That was down in the States. I’m not sure where it was, but compound that with our weather and imagine how much worse it would be for them.”

Hunt said last year her family filled purses and took them to Siloam Mission in Winnipeg. She wanted to continue that idea in some way and along with the video, The Kindred Project was born.

“I called Christina and said, ‘we need to do something,’” said Hunt.

“It was something that spoke to us both. We thought if any two people could work together to make something happen—it’s us,” said Redmond. “That’s how The Kindred Project came to be—kindred spirits, Kindred Project.”

In October, the pair began discussing what they want the project to look like and what its scope would be, Redmond said. The project’s scope will focus on the province and not just Winnipeg.

The Kindred Project will distribute period packs to organizations that will give them to women in need, including Winnipeg Harvest, Siloam Mission, Rainbow Resource Centre, Native Women’s Transition Centre, Resource Assistance for Youth (RaY) and the Steinbach Family Resource Centre.

Redmond said individuals in need can also contact the project directly.

“That’s the idea. Homelessness was where it started, but we’ve come to realize with the stories that we hear, and also what we’ve researched, is it’s sometimes the lower income families, too,” said Redmond.

“This is just one thing where the mom has to make a decision about feeding her children or taking care of her hygiene needs. She will always pick her children.”

There are four different varieties of period packs. Red packs have 15 tampons, 10 pads, plus extras. Blue packs have a mix of pads only plus extras. Yellow packs have a mix of tampons only plus extras. Green packs are personalized for trans men. Extras include feminine or baby wipes and new or disposable underwear. Each pack comes in a brown paper bag with The Kindred Project logo.

“Not all women’s needs are the same. Some women prefer to use pads, some prefer to use tampons, and some like a mix,” said Redmond. “It’s so we can make sure women are getting what they want to use.”

Each period pack contains enough products for the anticipated length of a woman’s period. Redmond said this makes the donations go further, because they aren’t giving out entire boxes.

“Particularly, if you’re thinking about homeless women, they don’t have anywhere to store that,” said Redmond. She adds some of the larger organizations, like Winnipeg Harvest, have different systems that may require full packages.

Redman said they are taking steps to understand the needs of trans men.

“If it’s a female that’s transitioning to male, they could still be in the process that they’ll still be having their periods. We want to make sure that we understand fully, so we’re getting products to that community if they have needs,” she said.

In Winnipeg, London Drugs in St Vital Centre and all five Food Fare locations are product drop off points. The project’s website includes a map of home drop off points throughout Winnipeg and in rural communities like St Adolphe, Steinbach, Oakbank and Morris.

Monetary donations can also be made through the project’s website. Redmond said they can stretch these dollars a lot further because they can buy products in bulk.

“The response to the project from Facebook and social media has been huge. This speaks to women on such a level,” said Redmond, adding the project is also well-supported by men.

“One really great story is that a dad made a donation because her daughter has just started her period. He said ‘this is going to be her. She’s on her way now for something that she’s going to live with for many, many years and I want to make this donation in her name.”

To donate or become involved with the project, visit thekindredproject.ca or email info@thekindredproject.ca.

“Everyone that I have talked has said they simply couldn’t imagine that that was a need—40 years, every month, guaranteed. You don’t have the money to pay for the products, so you steal them or you miss school or you miss work or you do without,” said Hunt. “Everyone wants to help in some way.”

The video that inspired the project can be viewed on their website.