20E - Jackson Hole Woman JACKSON HOLE NEWS&GUIDE, Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Local government takes aim at ‘period poverty’ THANK BARB
Town and county will put $10K toward stocking Parks and Rec bathrooms with tampons and pads.
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New this fiscal year, Teton County and the town of Jackson are paying to provide free menstrual products in Parks and Rec restrooms, taking over some responsibility from a grassroots nonprofit that’s been placing tampons, pads and other products in bathrooms countywide for two or so years. “It’s huge,” Jean Barash said. “It’s the principle as much as the money.” Barash is an organizer of the Period Project, a Teton County nonprofit that’s been funding the stocking of free menstrual products in restrooms since the spring of 2019. She listed a dizzying number of places where they’ve worked: St. John’s Episcopal Church, St. John’s Health, Teton County School District No. 1, the Teton County Jail and more. One of those places used to be the Teton County/Jackson Recreation Center, which otherwise had a few paid dispensers. But, led by Commission Chairwoman Natalia D. Macker, the Jackson Town Council and Teton County Board of County Commissioners decided to include $10,000 in Parks and Rec’s annual budget to stock pads and tampons in Rec Center bathrooms and other public restrooms the department manages countywide. Macker said she thought taking over the service was a step forward. “Women have the right to have access to the hygiene products that they need,”
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Macker said. “We wouldn’t expect volunteers to be stocking toilet paper in the bathrooms at public parks. We expect to go into the bathroom and have toilet paper.” The $10,000 in town and county funds is not a huge number. The town of Jackson’s general fund budget for the current fiscal year is roughly $30 million. The county’s is roughly $60 million. And having the town and county pay to stock Parks and Rec bathrooms adds to a list of other restrooms both government entities are already stocking for free. Those include the town’s public restrooms at the Home Ranch Welcome Center, Miller Park, Deloney Avenue and the town parking garage, as well as a slew of county buildings: the administration building, general service building and law library, the Teton County Jail, the Teton County Courthouse and the Teton County Health Department. But Macker described the issue as a question of “equity” and “access” and credited the Period Project for getting the ball rolling a few years back. “Period products are essential hygiene items for people who menstruate,” she said. “Women live in our community. They’re moving around our community. They’re attending activities in our community. And they should have access to the essential hygiene products that they need to do so.” The problem the Period Project and, increasingly, the town and county are aiming to address is what advocates call “period poverty,” a problem the American Medical Women’s Association defines as “inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and educations, including but not limited to sanitary products, washing See PERIOD POVERTY on 21E
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