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Britepaths opened a new period pantry at its Fairfax headquarters on April 25, expanding access to essential health and hygiene products that federal food assistance does not cover.

Officially called the SNAP Gap Pantry, the resource is sponsored by the Junior League of Northern Virginia, which has pledged to contribute more than 8,000 period products each year. BRAWS, or Bringing Resources to Aid Women’s Shelters, has also supported Britepaths’ efforts to assist women and families.

An estimated two in five women in Northern Virginia struggle to obtain menstrual products, potentially disrupting their education, employment and overall well-being. The pantry is intended to offer consistent, dignified access to those supplies.

Britepaths Executive Director Abra Kurt said the nonprofit has spent decades adapting its services to meet changing community needs. Founded as a Fairfax homeless shelter in 1984, the organization later operated a traveling soup kitchen before developing broader programs as the housing crisis intensified in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Its services now include financial empowerment, workforce development and support for children. Britepaths also distributes new backpacks and school supplies through its back-to-school program. For the first time, period products will be included in those kits this year.

Junior League President Erica Bledsoe described menstrual products as necessities that should be readily accessible. The Fairfax location is the organization’s sixth period pantry, filling a previous gap in Central Fairfax.

Bledsoe credited period pantry manager Imani Myers and community council director Sarah Staropoli with helping establish the site. She also introduced Miranda Lewis, who was set to become the league’s president on June 1.

A grassroots effort reaches Virginia law

Del. Holly Seibold, a Democrat representing District 12 and the founder of BRAWS, traced her advocacy to a 2015 article about women receiving professional clothing through Dress for Success. It led her to consider how difficult it could be for women to obtain menstrual supplies, bras and underwear—basic items that can help adults return to work and children attend school.

After local organizations confirmed that those products were badly needed, Seibold organized a collection at her home. The Mardi Gras-season gathering, dubbed “Mardibras,” asked attendees to bring sanitary pads, tampons, a new bra or new underwear. The insistence on new items was meant to protect recipients’ dignity.

The response was so large that people who could not attend left donations on her doorstep. Many participants told Seibold they had never considered that others might lack access to such necessities.

At the time, menstrual products carried significant taxes and were not routinely supplied in schools. They were also excluded from programs including WIC and Medicaid. Shelters received few donations because of stigma, while much of their grant funding could not be spent on menstrual supplies.

That collection helped launch BRAWS as a grassroots organization. Seibold said public discussion and support have expanded substantially during the decade since, making it easier to recognize period poverty and request donations without the embarrassment that once surrounded the subject.

Seibold and Sen. Jennifer Boysko, a Democrat representing District 38, also began examining why Britepaths and shelters faced persistent shortages. Their work led them to conclude that public policy was failing to reflect the needs of women and girls.

After Boysko entered the House of Delegates in 2016, the pair worked on legislation they called the Dignity Act. Seibold recalled that even saying “menstruation” inside the General Assembly was considered uncomfortable at the time.

The legislation ultimately passed the General Assembly and was approved by the governor in 2020. Virginia’s Menstrual Equity Act requires public schools to provide free menstrual products in middle- and high-school bathrooms and make them accessible in elementary schools. Virginia also stopped taxing menstrual products in 2023.

Seibold, who has served in the General Assembly since 2023, said those changes demonstrate how far the issue has advanced in 10 years. She praised Britepaths and the Junior League for continuing that progress through the new pantry.

Boysko recalled that periods were rarely discussed when she arrived in the legislature in 2016, when relatively few women held seats. During one committee meeting on the proposed legislation, she said members became so uncomfortable that they claimed they were late for another meeting and left the room.

According to Boysko, advocacy by Seibold, current Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read and others generated enough attention on social media to bring lawmakers back for a hearing.

She said collaboration among policymakers, nonprofits and civic groups can produce practical changes affecting education, employment and household finances. With many local families facing financial strain, she called organizations such as Britepaths a lifeline.

Menstrual products can be donated at Britepaths’ pantry at 3959 Pender Drive, Suite 200, in Fairfax. Donations are accepted Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.