Covid-19 Response

There was an urgent need for vulnerable people with periods to be able to access period education and period products across Aotearoa when Covid-19 hit.

The Period Place mobilised the Period Relief Packs campaign while under Lockdown Level 4 to help some of those impacted the most by Covid-19 to safely manage periods.

THE CAMPAIGN.

• We called our contacts at Women’s Refuges, Auckland City Mission, MUMA etc and asked them what did the people with periods that they look after need - we were told by everyone that they wanted disposable products and some easy to digest period education that would be helpful and easy to engage with

• We set up a Givealittle account to raise money for this camaign

• Our Period Relief Packs contained:

  • Two packets of Regular Pads (10 to a pack) by Organic Initiative to get through one period cycle

  • One comprehensive brochure about periods from Nest Consulting

  • Information on how to contact The Period Place for further period education and further products for themselves or for their whānau

• We supported the most vulnerable people in our communities during this campaign. People fleeing domestic violence, people receiving food parcels to survive and people going directly to our collaborative partners around the country for support. Many of these people didn't have permanent homes, running water, even the ability to focus on the next day let alone the future.

• Navigating the added logistics of contacting suppliers, negotiating in-kind donations, setting up an online platform for fundraising and then physically receiving our goods during a global pandemic was a challenge our team accepted!

  
  

THE IMPACT.

• $14,048 donations received from March - May 2020.

• 1,407 Period Relief Packs delivered to people in severe hardship

• 2,691 people impacted by the campaign (*whānau, further unboxed products we were donated by the product supplier of the campaign that could be shared, distributors, teachers etc).

  
  

A FAMILY’S STORY.

One of our key partners was Women's Refuge. The need for their services increased dramatically during the Covid-19 lockdowns as families became trapped in a home with their abusers. A mother with three teens, and a toddler and newborn between them all had no access to period products. When they had their periods, they often used the nappies meant for the two children to manage their flow.

Their abuser would often do the grocery shopping and intentionally skip purchasing period products, keeping them in isolation in domestic duties, denying them bodily autonomy and maintaining power and abuse. When the family arrived at a Women's Refuge shelter, education and products from The Period Place were waiting for them along with other services needed for immediate support.

They didn't need to ask the shelter team for products, removing a barrier of stigma and shame often felt, returning some natural freedom that was withheld in their abusive home.

Download the full impact breakdown