A Brief But Spectacular take on ending period poverty

Lynette Medley is the founder and CEO of No More Secrets. Mind Body Spirit, a comprehensive sexual health and awareness organization based in Philadelphia, Medley and her team began delivering menstrual products door-to-door to underserved communities and have since established an innovative menstrual center. Tonight. Medley offers his

brief

but

spectacular

vision of how to end

period

poverty

. I remember this young woman and call her Holly. She looked me straight in the face. And she said Ms. Lynette, how do you expect me to respect and protect my body? For 11 weeks a month I have to resort to the most horrendous things just to have access to menstrual products.

It would have to steal our desire to have sex with people we didn't want to have sex with and that's how I got into that space. Period. Poverty is the inability to access menstrual hygiene products and most of the time when you think of

poverty

, you think of housing, insecurity, food insecurity and things like that. So when you think about those populations, half of them are actually in a

period

of poverty. In our communities, I am a black woman. We are not talking about issues related to sexuality at all. When I first had my menstrual cycle or my period, I remember when, you know, I told my mother and she said, Don't tell anyone else and now you're a woman.

So now you have to act differently. I didn't even know what a period was when I received it because there is no conversation about it. I received a lot of resistance. And I still do that with the work I do around issues related to sexuality. No more secrets. Mother. Body Spirit Incorporated basically started as a comprehensive sexuality awareness organization, but then fueled bodily autonomy, which in turn fueled the poverty of the time. I opened the central minstrel period during the national pandemic. It has Mistral hygiene products. It has toiletries. It has WiFi it has computers. It has running water and operable toilets.

It is a comprehensive approach to menstrual health and wellness so that people can live with dignity with their periods. Much of the work we do is community-oriented. That's why we are in communities throughout Philadelphia and surrounding areas. After these five months, a menstrual product is applied. This is something that should be covered. Through Medicaid, Medicare, Wicker Snap benefits any school that receives free lunches to get free menstrual products, and we need to start looking at minstrel health as a system of care. We serve young people up to seven years old. It is. It is disrespectful and basically demoralizing that this young man has to engage in unsafe behavior just to deal with something he has no control over.

My name is Lynette Medley. This is my

brief

but

spectacular

account of a period that puts an end to poverty. What a wonderful thing outdoors as it should be. And you can see more of our short but spectacular videos on PBS dot org slash.