How We Distribute Essential Hygiene Products

Hope & Comfort is the only organization in Massachusetts solely dedicated to addressing hygiene insecurity. The many requests for hygiene products we receive tell the story of thousands of youth and families without access to the essentials. This has a profound impact on their health and self-esteem. Supplying items like soap and deodorant gives them the confidence to succeed.

Hope & Comfort works with more than 500 youth-serving and community organizations – including college campuses – to provide hygiene products such as soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and menstrual products. Our partner distribution organizations listed below help distribute essential hygiene products to the hundreds of thousands of youth and families experiencing hygiene insecurity across the state.

Are you a community organization interested in receiving products from Hope & Comfort? Click here to request items.

Youth-Serving Organizations

Adult and Teen Challenge Massachusetts

All I Can Experience

Association of Black Harvard Women

Atkinson Elementary School PTO

Ayer Regional School

Beacon Academy

Belle of the Ball

Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology

Berklee College of Music

Billerica Boys & Girls Club

Birthday Wishes

Boston Community Pediatrics

Boston Girls Empowerment Network

Boston Medical Center for Refugee Health & Human Rights

Boston Youth Sanctuary

Boys & Girls Club of Boston- YouthConnect

Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell

Boys & Girls Club of Lynn

Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston

Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston- Charlestown

Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston- Chelsea

Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro South

BPS Another Course to College

BPS Blackstone Elementary School

BPS Boston Arts Academy

BPS Boston Collaborative High School

BPS Boston Community Leadership Academy

BPS Charles Sumner School

BPS Charlestown High School

BPS Chittick School

BPS Conley Elementary School

BPS Ellis Elementary School

BPS Grew Elementary

BPS Guild Elementary

BPS Health and Wellness

BPS Hennigan School

BPS Horace Mann School for the Deaf

BPS James F. Condon School

BPS JFK Elementary School

BPS King School

BPS Manning Elementary

BPS Margarita Muniz Academy

BPS Mattahunt Elementary

BPS McKay School

BPS McKinley School

BPS Mildred Ave K-8

BPS Mozart Elementary

BPS Murphy School

BPS Ohrenberger School

BPS Patrick Kennedy School

BPS Philbrick Elementary School

BPS Up Academy Dorchester

BPS- Curtis Guild Elementary School

BPS- Winthrop Elementary School

Brandeis University Food Pantry

Breaktime

Bridge Boston Charter School

Bridges Homeward

Bridgewater State Univ. Food Bank 4U

Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital

Bright Eyed, Inc.

Bruce School

Bunker Hill Community College Food Pantry

Calcutt School

Cambridge Friends School

Catie’s Closet

Charlestown Coalition

Chelsea Community Connections

Chelsea High School

Cheverus School

Chicopee High School

Christmas in the City

Circle of Hope Needham

City Connects – BPS Tobin Elementary School

City of Boston

City Year

Communities United, Inc. (Head Start)

Cradles to Crayons

Criterion Child Enrichment

Debbie’s Treasure Chest

Drive Boston

Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School

E-Cubed Academy (Providence School Department)

Epiphany School and Early Learning Center

Everett Public Schools

Family Resource Center at Family Service Association

Forestdale School

Foundry Consortium

Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School

Free. Hingham

Friends of the Bradley School

Friends of the Children

Friends of the Hernandez

Harvey Girls

Healthworks Community Fitness

Healthy Chelsea

Healthy Waltham

Higher Ground Boston

Home for Little Wanderers

Horizons for Homeless Children

Humility Church Brockton

Hyde Square Task Force

Immigrant Family Services Institute

Jeanne’s Cupboard at UMASS Dartmouth

Kennedy Middle School

Kittredge Elementary School

Lee Public Schools

Leviton Dual Language (Providence Public Schools)

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

Lynn Family Resource Center

Madison Park Development Corporation

Malden Public Schools

Marblehead Community Charter Public School

Marshall Middle School

Massasoit Community College

MassBay Community College Food Pantry

McMahon School

My Sisters Keeper

Nashoba Regional High School

Neighborhood House Charter School

Neighborhood Villages

North Andover High School

North Andover Public Schools

North High School

NSMHA (North Suffolk Mental Health Association)

Nuestro Mundo Public Charter School

Pathways Strategic Teaching Center

Peabody PREP

Peabody Public Schools – Center Elementary

Peabody Veterans Memorial High School

Project 351

Providence Autism School to Tomorrow Academy

Providence Public Schools

Provision Ministry

Public Schools of Brookline – Heath School

Quabbin Regional School District

Quincy Public Schools

RAW ART Works

Resiliency Preparatory Academy – Fall River Public Schools

Revere Public Schools

Roca

Ron Burton Training Village

Saint Columbkille Partnership School

Salemwood School

Salvation Army

Schools on Wheels

Shooting Touch

Snowden International School

South Boston Neighborhood House

South Shore YMCA

Southbridge High School

Southbridge Middle School

Storytime Crafts

Suffolk University Food Pantry

Sullivan Middle School – Lowell

Taunton Diversity Network Inc

The BASE

The Knights’ Closet at the North Andover Middle School

The Wonderfund

Thomson Elementary School

United South End Settlements

United Way MassBay – Cambridge Family & Children Services

Villa Nova Middle School

Waltham Boys & Girls Club

Waltham Partnership for Youth

Waltham Public Schools

Waverly Oaks/Wayside

Wayside Youth & Family Network

Wily Network

YMCA of Greater Boston

YOU Boston

Young Man with a Plan

Youth Build North Shore

Youth Options Unlimited Boston

YouthBuild Boston

YouthBuild Pace New Bedford

Youthquake

YW Boston

Families & Communities

4 Others Inc

A Place to Turn Pantry

Acton Community Supper

Addiction Referral Center

Alianza Hispana

All Saints Food Pantry

Allston Brighton Community Fridges

Ash Street Park Neighborhood

Barnstable Intermediate School

Bay Cove Human Services

Berea SDA Church

Big Blue Drop In Center

Boston Asian Youth Essential Service

Boston Missionary Baptist Community Center

Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society

Boston-Suffolk County Family Resource Center (a program of The Home for Little Wanderers)

BRACE Framingham

Braintree Holidays/Friends

Brockton Interfaith Community

Brookline Food Pantry

Brookside Community Health Center

CARE Pantry at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Sudbury

Catching Joy

Catholic Charities – Leominster

Catholic Charities – Milford, MA

Catholic Charities – Worcester, MA

Catholic Charities South Worcester County

Catholic Charities South Worcester County

Central MA Agency on Aging

Centre Street Food Pantry

Chapters Recovery Center

Christ Church Cathedral Drop-In Center

Christ The Rock Food Pantry

City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Public Service

Commonwealth Mental Health and Wellness

Community Empowerment Center

Community Empowerment Center- Worcester

Concord Baptist Church

Cueball Capital for Boston Children’s Hospital

Department of Children & Families & Communities

Dimock Center

DotHouse Health Center

Dwelling House of Hope

El Buen Samaritano Food Program, Inc.

Eliot Family Resource Center

Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew

Eta Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity

Fall River Deaconness Home

Family Access of Newton

Family Continuity

Family Independence Initiative

Fathers Uplift

Feminist Empowerment Movement (Revere High School)

Firewinds Key To Christian Institute of Hope

First Congregational Church of Sharon Community Food Pantry

Friends of the Rafael Hernandez

Gandara Center

Gander Center Stairway to Recovery

Genesis Lacen Family Liaison

Germantown Center South Shore YMCA

Gifts of Hope Unlimited Sudbury

Ginny’s Helping Hand

Grafton Food Bank

Greater Boston Food Bank

Guardians of the Streets

Harbor Health/Neponset Health Center

Higher Ground International

Homeless Empowerment Project

House of Mercy

Iglesia Jesus El Buen Pastor (Jesus the Good Shepherd Church) Framingham

Interfaith Social Services Quincy

Jeannine’s Joy

Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS)

Jewish Family Services (JFS of Metrowest)

JF&CS Food Pantry

JRIs Housing is Healthcare Program

Justice Resource Institute

Lazarus House

Leaving the Streets Ministry

Lexington Food Pantry

Life Connection Center, Inc.

LifeSource Fellowship (Outreach Ministry)

Liz Murphy Open Hand Food Pantry

Lower Roxbury and Wellness Coalition Initiative

Lynn Community Connections Coalition

Lynn Community Health Center

Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development Group Inc.

Massachusetts Bay Veterans Center

Medway Food Pantry

Merrimack Valley Food Bank

Metrowest Worker Center

Mission Maranatha

Mothers Helping Mothers

Mujeres Unidas Avanzando

Needham Community Council Food Pantry

New Global Harvest Church

New Hope, Inc.

Newton Food Pantry

Northampton Survival Center

Norwood Baptist Church RI

Old Cambridge Baptist Church

On The Rise

Orient Heights Tenant Organization

Pine Street Inn

Plymouth Family Resource Center

Point After Club Lawrence

PowerCorps Boston

Presente en Nuestra communidad

Program RISE

Project Just Because

Quincy Community Action Programs

Recovery Journey Services

Rehoboth Baptist Church Food Pantry

Revival Center

Rosary Group of Catholic Tri-Parishes of Brockton

Rose’s Bounty Pantry

Ruth’s House

Saint Francis House

Schochet Companies

Shaquera Story

SHARE Fund

Shirley Community Health and Outreach

Sociedad Latina

Solutions At Work

Somebody Cares New England

St Mary’s Food Pantry

Stone Soup Café

Supplies for Love

Tenancy Preservation Program

The Brown Bag Project

The Community Builders

The Roxbury Financial Empowerment Center

Tifereth Raphael

Together We Stand Corporation

Tree of Life/Arbol de Vida

Triumph Inc

Tufts Dental Students (St. Francis House Oral Health Workshops)

UMass Dartmouth Housing & ASID

UMASS Harrington Addiction Immediate Care

UnitedWay of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley

Volunteers of America Massachusetts

WATCH CDC

Watertown Food Pantry

Wellesley Food Pantry

Women’s Fund SouthCoast

Women’s Refugee Care

Worcester County Food Bank

Worcester Families & Communities Feeding Families & Communities

You Forward Vinfen

HYGIENE DISTRIBUTION PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: MENSTRUAL + HYGIENE PRODUCT PILOT PROGRAM

Hope & Comfort is proud to lead an innovative, three-year pilot program which distributes comprehensive, personalized menstrual + hygiene product kits to Greater Boston youth in need monthly. This program is generously funded in part by CJP’s The Miriam Fund. Select participating partners include our longtime collaborators at Beacon Academy, Charlestown Coalition, Hyde Square Task Force, Raw Art Works , School on Wheels MA, South Boston Neighborhood House, Waltham Boys & Girls Club, Waltham Partnership for Youth, and YouthConnect. These inspiring partners each provide frontline services to young people in need across Greater Boston, bolstered further by Hope & Comfort’s support through frequent essential product distributions.

Our pilot program addresses the widespread issue of period poverty, which goes hand in hand with overall hygiene insecurity. Did you know that 9 out of 10 participants we surveyed reported having to miss at least a day of school due to insufficient access to pads or tampons? Using a distribution methodology that is responsive to the highly individualized needs of our clients, we not only supply a comprehensive suite of both period and hygiene products on a rolling monthly basis, but also collect data on the prevalence and impact of period poverty. Our interim findings can be viewed in reports covering Pilot Program Report: Year #1, built on further in Tackling Period Poverty and Hygiene Insecurity in Greater Boston: Year #2 and Menstrual & Hygiene Equity for Greater Boston: Year #3.

As we work to build awareness around this often-overlooked issue and increase support for young people experiencing both period poverty and hygiene insecurity, we invite you to do the same by donating menstrual products, supporting Hope & Comfort’s work, and sharing our latest report. Together, we can end hygiene insecurity and advance equity for women, girls, and others who menstruate.