HamCo Love: An HSE librarian is filling the need for pads and tampons in Hamilton County

Packages of Tampax, Kotex and Always are arranged on a pale pink bookshelf in the spare bedroom of Jennifer Harmon's home in Fishers.

When a phone call or email comes in from an organization in need of pads and tampons, Harmon pulls the products off the shelves and logs them in her notes.

Harmon’s supplies never last long. There is always a need, now more than ever, as supply chain issues have led to a national tampon shortage. In addition, reproductive rights are at the forefront of national news after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion. 

Harmon and her nonprofit, HamCo Love, are working on filling the need for period products in Hamilton County. She collects supplies and distributes them to groups around the county.

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Since HamCo Love began in January 2021, Harmon has collected 60,000 products to distribute to Hamilton County organizations and schools: mostly pads, tampons and some menstrual cups. She has larger plans she wants to initiate to normalize period products and their accessibility across the county.

“Everyone has an instant when they’re not prepared. That’s frustrating enough, but to have that as a constant thing in your life is stressful,” Harmon said. “Some people don’t understand why we do this and I’m trying to get that out. We don’t want somebody using a tampon for 12 hours because they don’t have any. That shouldn’t be happening.”

Across the country and around the world, menstruating people can experience period poverty, or the inability to afford hygienic menstrual products. That doesn't stop in Hamilton County, Harmon said.

Period products also continue to get more costly. The average price of tampons rose 9.8% and a package of pads rose 8.3% this year through May 28, according to NielsenIQ data.

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A 36-count box of Tampax tampons was $7.44 at Walmart.com as of June 30.

On top of the regular costs, 24 states across the country tax period products, according to Period Law, a law and advocacy organization. That includes Indiana.

Lack of access to hygienic materials can lead to dangerous health concerns, such as toxic shock syndrome, a rare condition that can happen when tampons are inserted too long and toxins from bacterial infections spread throughout the body causing illness.

"When people don't have access to products, they start improvising or using products longer than recommended and that's not healthy or hygienic," Harmon said.

Serving others with HamCo Love

Harmon, a mother of two boys, launched HamCo Love in January 2021 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

It is the only federal holiday designated by Congress as a national day of service and on that day last year Harmon wanted to do something meaningful, she said.

Months earlier she had researched what kind of groups provided menstrual products in the Indianapolis area and found a need in Hamilton County.

Harmon, a former teacher and now-librarian for Hamilton Southeastern Schools, launched a website and a Facebook page for HamCo Love. She began finding organizations with a need for pads and tampons and started collecting donations. Soon word began to spread.

“I just started asking around,” Harmon said. “The first round, I’m sure, were my family and friends who just sent me Amazon boxes.”

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Harmon emailed Glenn Conn, the founder of Marilyn’s Place, a non-food pantry in Noblesville. Conn enthusiastically agreed to receive products, he said.

“When she first offered it, I thought that would be great,” Conn said. “It’s turned out that period products have been one of the most sought after items in our pantry. Virtually every woman that comes in takes products."

Marilyn’s Place provides the pads and tampons for free, Conn said. The pantry has run out “numerous times" and when that happens, Conn contacts Harmon for another distribution, he said.

“It’s had a huge impact on our clients,” Conn said. “We serve the unemployed, homeless, underemployed, people on disability. Right now with the supply chain issues and prices skyrocketing, it’s even more important.”

Helping students

HamCo Love has a large focus on students, due to Harmon's work work in the Hamilton Southeastern district.

In the early months of HamCo Love, Harmon reached out to school nurses to see if products were needed in clinics. Nearly all said yes, she said.

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This summer, Harmon is providing pads and tampons to several Youth Assistance programs across Hamilton County. Around 480 bags of materials for the Fishers Youth Assistance program filled her spare bedroom in early June, she said.

“I feel like what we've done is a drop in the bucket. There is such a need for these products,” Harmon said. “That's like a big, big thing. I'm trying to push out that message that, yes, we're Hamilton County. And yes, it's something we need to think about.”

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Harmon would like schools to place period stations in campuses where students can access pads and tampons, but also underwear and leggings should they experience a problem, such as a leak. Hamilton Heights Middle School already has an existing station, Harmon said. 

“I know so many people that just, once they hear that I’m doing this, they have a story of that day they were miserable in school where they didn't have what they needed,” Harmon said.

Janet Pritchett, a member of the Hamilton Southeastern board of school trustees, said Harmon’s efforts will help students feel more comfortable in schools.

“There are so many instances we see where kids don’t have adequate period products,” Pritchett said. “That’s what’s on their mind instead of what they’re learning.”

Filling a need

On a summer afternoon in late June, Harmon was again in her spare bedroom. She filled rainbow-striped IKEA bags with packages of pads and tampons from the bookshelf.

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She would later drive the menstrual products a mile and a half to the Delaware Township government offices in Fishers. The township offices are home to a food pantry and Harmon helps maintain their supplies when stock is low.

Township staff members asked HamCo Love for 25 packages of pads and 25 packages of tampons. On a trip to Target that June morning, Harmon found limited tampons. Not a surprise due to the shortage, she said.

She placed another set of pads from the bookshelf into one of the multi-colored bags.

“I can fit one more in,” she said.

Contact IndyStar's Carmel and Westfield reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter @CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: HamCo Love: Nonprofit fills need for pads, tampons in Hamilton County