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Home / Programs / Basic Needs / Period Promise
Monthly menstruation products are a necessity, but for some people, they can be hard to come by. United Way’s Period Promise initiative aims to address period poverty in our communities while challenging the stigma around menstruation.
Hosting a product drive is an excellent way to help United Way and its partner agencies support local people in need, while also connecting with co-workers, customers, and your community.
Sign our pledge and commit to supplying free period products in all washrooms at your workplace, business, or organization.
Period poverty is a complex issue with multiple contributing factors. These include being unable to afford menstrual products, limited access to washrooms, inadequate laundry services, stigma related to gender identity, and shame associated with menstruation.
Almost one-quarter of people who menstruate in Canada report struggling to afford menstrual products for themselves or their children. And when people don’t have menstrual products, they often miss school, work, or other opportunities to contribute to their community.
But United Way is here to help.
The Period Promise initiative is a multi-faceted approach aimed at addressing period poverty in our communities. By working with businesses, schools, and other organizations, we can make a significant impact by improving access to period products while also challenging the associated taboo.
Thanks to product sponsorship from Proctor & Gamble, United Ways in Alberta have partnered to provide free period products in select schools across the province, while also addressing the barriers and stigma associated with menstruation.
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The Period Promise Pledge encourages local organizations, labour unions, and corporate partners to combat period poverty in their spaces by making a commitment to provide free menstrual products to employees, members, guests, clients, and visitors.
United Way’s Period Promise initiative is also tackling period poverty through the collection and distribution of period products to vulnerable people through its network of frontline agency partners.
By uniting passionate changemakers, local businesses, schools, unions, and community organizations, together we can support people in need by making sure they can access these essential items.
FACT: The average person will have 456 periods in their life and spend about $6,360 on period products alone. This doesn’t factor in other costs such as laundry, underwear, pain medication, or other supplies. And up until 2015, period products were subject to GST.
FACT: Stigma is a significant contributing factor to period poverty. Periods are nothing to be ashamed of – they are a natural, biological process. But too many people report being shamed, bullied, or isolated because of their periods. By being upfront about the reality of periods and period poverty, we can show people that periods aren’t scary or shameful — they’re just a fact of life.
FACT: While periods aren’t dirty or unhygienic, there are health risks if period products aren’t properly cleaned, if they are used for too long, or aren’t a regulated period product. Unfortunately, this is a reality for people in vulnerable situations without regular access to washrooms, or who can’t afford products. There is an added layer of complexity for trans men and non-binary people who menstruate and have a hard time accessing menstrual products safely.
Alberta Blue Cross is pleased to sponsor Period Promise, an initiative led by United Way of the Alberta Capital Region. Period Promise aligns with our commitment to advancing health and gender equity, by ensuring free access to menstrual products in the school system, through social service agencies and other organizations as well as employers. Alberta Blue Cross
Alberta Blue Cross is pleased to sponsor Period Promise, an initiative led by United Way of the Alberta Capital Region. Period Promise aligns with our commitment to advancing health and gender equity, by ensuring free access to menstrual products in the school system, through social service agencies and other organizations as well as employers.
In Canada, menstruation is one of the top two reasons why people who menstruate miss work. The inability to access period products is a contributing factor. The stigma around menstruation is complex, subtle, and pervasive, but normalizing access to menstrual products can help break the taboo.
In 2019, about 34 percent of people who menstruate in Canada had to “often” or “occasionally” make budget sacrifices to afford menstrual products.
Almost one-quarter of people who menstruate in Canada say they have struggled to afford menstrual products for themselves or their children.
Studies have found that women who menstruate feel that their period prevents them from fully participating in social activities and up to 70 percent say they have missed school or work because of their period.
"Alberta Blue Cross is pleased to sponsor Period Promise, an initiative led by United Way of the Alberta Capital Region. Period Promise aligns with our commitment to advancing health and gender equity, by ensuring free access to menstrual products in the school system, through social service agencies and other organizations as well as employers."
By making a monetary gift, you will help provide period products to meet urgent needs in our community.
Contact Brent Guidinger, Director of Workplace Solutions [email protected]
