Access – Monthly Dignity | Menstrual Equity Now

End period poverty

Monthly Dignity works to improve access to menstrual products in the Montreal community by distributing free products to community-based organizations that serve people who are disproportionately at risk of experiencing period poverty.

Community Partners

We work with a network of more than 30 amazing community partners, including women’s centres, shelters and day centres serving people experiencing houselessness, domestic violence shelters, organizations serving newcomers and refugee or asylum claimants, organizations serving sex workers, organizations serving people who use drugs or who are in a recovery program, youth outreach centres, employment & continuing education centres, LGBTQIA+ organizations, and many others.

We distribute a range of menstrual products, including single-use menstrual products (e.g. pads, tampons, liners) and reusable products (e.g. menstrual cups & discs, reusable pads). We work closely with each of our partners to respond to the specific product needs and preferences of the diverse populations they serve.

In 2023, our team distributed more than 33,000 menstrual products through these partnerships!

La rue des femmes

La Rue des Femmes recognizes the state of houselessness as a problem linked to the loss of relational health – the vital capacity to be safe and connected with oneself and with others – as a consequence of serious relational wounds caused by chronic complex post-traumatic stress. Their mission is to provide women experiencing houselessness with curative and preventive relational health care, conduct relational health research and provide training for houselessness workers, raise public awareness of issues surrounding houselessness, and promote relational health as a component of health, along with physical and mental health.

Le CAP St-Barnabé

The CAP offers many services including an emergency shelter open to all 24/7, a day center, psychosocial follow-ups, nutritional assistance for the residents of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, meals and a social housing program. Their mission is to affirm their expertise by contributing to the improvement of living conditions of the most vulnerable through accompaniment, aiming to promote autonomy and access to a home.

Maison Passages

Passages is an emergency shelter for young women in Montreal, welcoming all persons who identify as a woman, between the age of 18 and 30 years old. They provide a safe space for every woman who is in need of a place to stay or a break from her situation. They provide services under minimal conditions based on inclusion and non-judgmental support. They have 16 places in our emergency shelter, offering stays that vary from 3 nights to 4 weeks long. They also have a housing program that offers the opportunity to 14 women to access an affordable apartment with community support. Finally, as part of their art and community project, Passages offers the opportunity to participate in art workshops and community involvement activities.

Dopamine

Dopamine is a community organization located in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Since 1994, its mandate has been to welcome, support and accompany people who use drugs, their entourage and the general population of the district and surrounding areas, within a framework of prevention of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other STBBIs (sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections). Dopamine uses intervention strategies aimed at mitigating the negative repercussions and prejudices associated with lifestyles related to the use of psychotropic drugs, as well as prejudices, myths and representations at individual, collective and societal levels.

Chez Stella

Stella is an organization run by and for sex workers in Montreal, dedicated to ensuring that sex workers can live and work in health, safety, and dignity.

Plein Milieu

Plein Milieu builds relationships of trust with drug users, unhoused people or people at risk of becoming unhoused, and with youth 12 years old or older, with the goal of harm reduction, information and prevention. Plein Milieu supports them on their journey towards well-being, facilitates their access to knowledge, services and care according to their needs.

Femmes du monde

Femmes du monde à Côte-des-Neiges is a women’s center whose mission is to provide a meeting place, solidarity, mutual assistance, and sharing among women. Their objective is to promote the integration of all women in the community and encourage citizen participation. They are campaigning to inform and raise awareness about the living conditions of women and defend their rights.

Head & Hands

Head & Hands is driven by a mission to provide youth ages 12-25 with the tools they need to make informed decisions about their physical and mental well-being. Their approach is preventative, inclusive, non-judgmental, and holistic, with a fundamental commitment to providing a supportive environment for youth experiencing marginalization(s). They seek to empower youth and to facilitate social change.

P10

Project 10 works to promote the personal, social, sexual and mental well being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirit, intersex and questioning (2LGBTQ+) youth and adults 14-25. Through advocacy and education, using a harm reduction approach, Project 10 aims to facilitate the empowerment of youth at individual, community, and institutional levels with a particular emphasis on supporting individuals and groups who experience multiple and intersecting oppressions.

Partner with us

If you represent a community-based organization that serves people at risk of experiencing period poverty in the greater Montreal area and are interested in receiving donations of menstrual products, please reach out to us!

Donors

Our work to distribute free menstrual products in the Montreal community is supported by donations from corporate partnerships, local non-profit organizations & businesses, and community members.

We have a long-standing tripartite partnership with Fempro, the manufacturer of Incognito menstrual products in Canada, and Moisson Montréal, the largest food bank in Canada. Through this partnership, Fempro donates single-use pads & liners that can’t be sold because they have outdated packaging or have been opened for quality control. Their donations are shipped to Moisson Montréal, who sort & package the boxes and help get them to our storage facility. Any products that we cannot store are distributed through Moisson Montréal’s network of more than 300 accredited organisations. Fempro donates tens of thousands of menstrual products annually that are diverted from landfill and distributed to fight period poverty in the Montreal community.