The SPOT Period expanding to help women address all types of health, wellness

PHILADELPHIA -- In its first year, the SPOT Period has helped 257,000 people struggling with period poverty. The mom and daughter duo behind the initiative has expanded to help women address all types of health and wellness.

Their goal is to provide menstrual health and support for underserved communities.

"These are some of our products that have been donated from our community," said Lynette Medley, founder of the SPOT Period.

But the SPOT Period's brick-and-mortar location addresses more than just period poverty.

"We are a full-service drop-in center," she said. "We have nurses on-site to do wellness checks."

The organization teamed up with Drexel University's nursing program to provide wellness checks for things like HIV tests, COVID-19 testing and booster shots. Medley and her daughter opened the SPOT Period in February 2021.

"These populations who don't have access to ongoing health insurance or resources around medical care, we bring the services here," she said. "I've created a triage. Even though they're coming for menstrual products, they feel safe. They talk to us and tell us whatever else they need."

Medley says in the last year, they've helped over 250,000 people by delivering female necessities nationwide.

"The work is important because we're allowing people to live in dignity," said Medley. "Even though it's period poverty, many of the people who we serve are not in poverty. They work every day, but there's nothing set up to bridge the gap to pay for menstrual products. We need to make sure people have these as a normal part of life."

Medley says the goal is to hopefully expand the SPOT Period to other parts of the city and country, while also continuing to fight to have female products covered by health insurance.