{"id":5061244,"date":"2022-10-14T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/illatinonews.com\/?p=5061244"},"modified":"2022-10-14T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T06:00:00","slug":"illn-opinion-ida-melbye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/2022\/10\/14\/illn-opinion-ida-melbye\/","title":{"rendered":"ILLN Opinion+: Ida Melbye"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Welcome to another episode of Illinois Latino News Opinion+ where we talk about major issues the Latinx and other underrepresented communities face in the state of Illinois. This week we spoke with Ida Melbye, the Executive Director of The Period Collective.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Period Collective is a nonprofit organization committed to supplying menstrual hygiene products to houseless and low-income people throughout Chicagoland. With period poverty being such a widespread issue that is rarely talked about, many people who do not have access to the resources necessary to experience a healthy period, suffer in silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"ILLN Opinion+: Ida Melbye\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AG2dC5zKhD8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Melbye started The Period Collective in response to learning about a similar organization in Michigan, and feeling called to try to do something to aid those experiencing a lack of menstrual products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI just found that it was unacceptable that this was happening in our own backyard and I feel like period poverty is something that we often think of happening in the global south, but it is definitely a problem right here in our community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Period Collective reaches people in all stages of life, from those who are experiencing their first period to those experiencing menopause, attesting to how widely spread this issue is and how long this can be a factor in someone\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Melbye said the impact doesn\u2019t stop at not having products, it can flow into other long-lasting areas of life, including one\u2019s health.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of the ways that people cope when they don&#8217;t have the product that they need can lead to infections and other health issues,\u201d explained Melbye, pointing to socks and newspapers as product alternatives that she\u2019s heard of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This can also impact the education or career of a person.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor kids in school when they don\u2019t have access to the product they need, it\u2019s very hard to focus if you\u2019re sitting in class and worried about that. What we see is a lot of kids miss school repeatedly when they\u2019re on their period because they feel like they can\u2019t go and that of course causes issues throughout their life really because if you start missing school when you\u2019re 12 to 10 years old, and you miss several days every time you have your period, that\u2019s gonna start affecting your ability to complete your work, it\u2019s gonna affect your ability to do well on tests and on standardized tests, and that again is going to affect your ability to get into secondary education,\u201d said Melbye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the biggest factors that contributes to period poverty and menstrual inequity is the stigma that prevents discussions from being had and information about menstruation from being shared. This leaves many organizers working to provide resources wondering how to help break down the stigmatization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think the best thing we can do is talk about it. I feel like there\u2019s a lot of cultural and religious barriers to removing those kinds of stigmas but really the best thing we can do is to talk about it,\u201d said Melbye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Melbye says that she does see more period conversations being held and is hopeful for younger generations who she says seem more comfortable and open with their periods. This is a step in the direction towards normalizing menstruation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Resources mentioned in this video<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Period Collective\u2019s website<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/theperiodcollective.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">theperiodcollective.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Period Collective on Facebook &amp; Instagram: <\/strong>@periodcoll<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How to find your elected officials: <\/strong>https:\/\/www.elections.il.gov\/electionoperations\/districtlocator\/districtofficialsearchbyaddress.aspx<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Alliance for Period Supplies: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/allianceforperiodsupplies.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/allianceforperiodsupplies.org<br><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Addressing Period Poverty survey: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/zAHwj3eZTPPbEDA6A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/forms.gle\/zAHwj3eZTPPbEDA6A<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Encuesta Abordando La Pobreza Menstrual<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/42wdtCHiWEH9R19m6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/forms.gle\/42wdtCHiWEH9R19m6&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to another episode of Illinois Latino News Opinion+ where we talk about major issues the Latinx and other underrepresented 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