UCC Releases Menstrual Health Toolkit

Advocacy and Action for Menstrual Health and Justice

Work with partners Church World Service Highlights Global Challenges for Women, Girls, and all Menstruators

May is National Menstrual Health Awareness Month in the United State, and I am so pleased to be able to address the stigma associated with this natural process that 800,000,000 experience any given day around the globe. The United Church of Christ has a history of advocating for and providing resources to address the day-to-day necessities of people living through transition, and menstrual health and hygiene justice is just one more area that the UCC openly addresses as we seek to help people live with dignity.

One of the many ways that the UCC is confronting period injustice is by promoting the Church World Service menstrual hygiene kits as an active way to bring congregations together while addressing stigma as well as the need for menstrual health supplies for people experiencing transitions in living and instability in housing.

In a recent campaign lasting from Valentine’s Day to the mid-April, Rev. Dr. Karen Heil Borchert (at left in the photo) of Grace United Church in Wellsville, New York and Rev. Lourdes Pascual (right) from First Congregational Church in Corning, New York organized their communities to address this very real need. Congregants of both churches collected menstrual hygiene products for our partner Church World Service (CWS). Members then gathered in a culminating event to assemble the kits before taking them to a CWS depot for shipment to the central warehouse, which is followed by dispersal to organizations that will distribute them to people in need. Together these congregations produced 100 menstrual hygiene kits to share with God’s children in need. Well done, Friends!! Learn about federal bills that support women and girls (inclusive of our nonbinary and transgender siblings). THIS LINK will tell you how.

In March, I had the pleasure of joining colleagues in a virtual workshop offered as part of the of the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women. In this workshop, I was able to hear from one of our partners in international work through Global Ministries, our shared ministry with the Christian Church Disciples of Christ. Our guest was staff for Mediterranean Hope, an organization that addresses the needs of migrants fleeing war-torn parts of the Middle East and Northern Africa as well as other people seeking asylum and safety from vulnerable living situations. Francesca shared that the menstrual hygiene needs of people arriving by boat to the Italian island of Lampedusa are compounded by requirements to place them in quarantine. The number of people seeking assistance as they seek shelter and food far outnumber the population of the island itself. Organizations like Mediterranean Hope are struggling to meet the ongoing need and are so grateful that Global Ministries continues to provide support.

You can get involved and affect change by doing one of the following:

• Watch the recorded webinar that took place on May 15^th, 2024, entitled Menstrual Health and Justice for All. Click here to enroll in Engendering Spirit and watch the webinar.

• Commit to hosting a Period Pack Party – the Menstrual Justice Toolkit makes it so easy! Don’t forget that your congregation can get a $250 matching grant for supplies!

• Donate toward Global support partner, and learn more about them by clicking THIS LINK

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