How We Distribute Essential Hygiene Products
Hope & Comfort is the only organization in Boston solely dedicated to addressing youth hygiene insecurity. The many requests for hygiene products we receive tell the story of thousands of youth without access to the essentials. Often, these young people are embarrassed to go to school and isolate themselves. Supplying items like soap and deodorant can help improve the health and self-esteem of a young person, giving them the confidence to succeed.
Hope & Comfort works with more than 150 youth-serving and community organizations – including college campuses – to provide hygiene products such as soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes and feminine care products. Our partnering organizations listed below help distribute essential hygiene products to at-hope youth, a term we use for children and young adults who have the ability to succeed when given the proper tools and knowledge.
Are you a youth serving organization or other 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
Another Course to College Boston Public Schools
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
BGC of Boston (Charlestown)
BGC of Waltham
Billerica Boys and Girls Club
Birthday Wishes
Boston Youth Sanctuary
Boys & Girls Club of Boston YouthConnect
Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell
BPS Blackstone Elemantary 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 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
Brandeis University Food Pantry
Breaktime
Bridge Boston Charter School
Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital
Bright Eyed, Inc.
Bunker Hill Community College Food Pantry
Calcutt School
Cambridge Friends School
Catie’s Closet
Charlestown Coalition
Chelsea Community Connections
Cheverus School
Circle of Hope Needham
City Year
Cradles to Crayons
Criterion Child Enrichment
Drive Boston
Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School
Epiphany School and Early Learning Center
Everett Public Schools
Family Resource Center at Family Service Association
Forestdale 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
Kittredge Elementary School
Lee Public Schools
Leviton Dual Language (Providence Public Schools)
Little Hearts Dream Foundation
Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
Lynn Family Resource Center
Madison Park Development Corporation
Marshall Middle School
MassBay Community College Food Pantry
My Sisters Keeper
Nashoba Regional High School
Neighborhood House Charter School
Neighborhood Villages
North Andover High School
NSMHA (North Suffolk Mental Health Association)
Pathways Strategic Teaching Center
Peabody PREP
Providence Autism School to Tomorrow Academy
Providence Public Schools
Provision Ministry
Quabbin Regional School District
RAW ART Works/Lynn
Roca
Ron Burton Training Village
Saint Columbkille Partnership School
Salemwood School
Schools on Wheels
Shooting Touch
Snowden International School
South Boston Neighborhood House
South Shore YMCA
Suffolk University Food Pantry
Taunton Diversity Network Inc
Thomson Elementary School
United South End Settlements
United Way (Mass Bay) – Cambridge Family & Children Services
Villa Nova Middle School
Waltham Partnership for Youth
Waltham Public Schools
Waverly Oaks/Wayside
Wayside Youth & Family Network
Wilahmena’s Place Inc.
Wily Network
YMCA of Greater Boston
Young Man with a Plan
Youth Build North Shore
Youth Options Unlimited Boston
Youthquake
YW Boston
Families & Communities
4 Others Inc
A Place to Turn Pantry
Acton Community Supper
Alianza Hispana
All Saints Food Pantry
Allston Brighton Community Fridges
Ash Street Park Neighborhood
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
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 – Worcester, MA
Catholic Charities Hammond Street
Catholic Charities South Worcester County
Central MA Agency on Aging
Centre Street Food Pantry
Chapters Recovery Center
Commonwealth Mental Health and Wellness
Community Empowerment Center
Department of Children & Families & Communities
DotHouse Health Center
Dwelling House of Hope
El Buen Samaritano Food Program, Inc.
Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew
Eta Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity
Fall River Deaconess Home
Family Access of Newton
Family Continuity
Family Independence Initiative
Fathers Uplift
Feminist Empowerment Movement (Revere High School)
First Congregational Church of Sharon Community Food Pantry
Friends of the Rafael Hernandez
Genesis Lacen Family Liaison
Greater Boston Food Bank
Guardians of the Streets
Harbor Health/Neponset Health Center
Interfaith Social Services Quincy
Jeannine’s Joy
Jewish Family and Children Services (JFCS)
Jewish Family Services (JFS of MetroWest)
JF&CS Food Pantry
Justice Resource Institute
Lazarus House
Liz Murphy Open Hand Food Pantry
Lynn Community Connections Coalition
Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development Group Inc.
Massachusetts Bay Veterans Center
Mission Maranatha
Mothers Helping Mothers
Mujeres Unidas Avanzando
Needham Community Council Food Pantry
New Global Harvest Church
New Hope, Inc.
Newton Food Pantry
Norwood Baptist Church RI
On The Rise
Plymouth Family Resource Center
PowerCorps Boston
Presente en Nuestra Communidad
Program RISE
Project Just Because
Quincy Community Action Programs
Revival Center
Rose’s Bounty Pantry
Ruth’s House
Saint Francis House
Schochet Companies
Shaquera Story
Sociedad Latina
Solutions At Work
Somebody Cares New England
St Mary’s Food Pantry
St Patrick’s Food Pantry
Stone Soup Café
The Roxbury Financial Empowerment Center
Tifereth Raphael
Together We Stand Corporation
Triumph Inc
United Way
Volunteers of America Massachusetts
WATCH CDC
Watertown Food Pantry
Wellesley Food Pantry
Women’s Fund SouthCoast
Women’s Refugee Care
Worcester Families & Communities Feeding Families & Communities
You Forward Vinfen
HYGIENE DISTRIBUTION PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: MENSTRUAL + HYGIENE PRODUCT PILOT PROGRAM
Hope & Comfort is proud 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.
