Oak Park Student Provides FlowKits for Homeless Women

Oak Park, IL - Oak Park and River Forest High School freshman Lily Alter was proud of her mock grant-writing project for English class, so she decided not to let her hard work go to waste.

Alter, 14, researched how homeless women navigate menstruation, which can be exceptionally challenging for those who are also struggling to find food or a place to sleep.

Her solution is Flowing Forward, a project that aims to distribute flowkits packed with enough supplies for one menstrual cycle to homeless women in Oak Park and beyond.

Alter has collected more than $5,200 in donations for Flowing Forward, and she’s packed 31 flowkits with tampons, pads, pantiliners, sanitary wipes, ibuprofen tablets and a menstrual health pamphlet.

She handed out her first seven kits April 4 at one of the shelters managed by Housing Forward, a non-profit organization that works to transition people from financial and housing crisis to stability.

“I thought I was going to feel better about handing out kits, but it was sad because I wish there wasn’t a need for this,” Alter said. “All of these people were so nice. I felt happy to help people but also sad that I had to help people. You hope you’re going to see a nice person who frequents the shelter, but you also hope you don’t see them because you hope they get placed [into a stable home].”

Lily Alter (left) and her friend Abby Bankes (right) pack flowkits for the pilot project.

Janet Gow, director of Development and Communications for Housing Forward, said when Alter approached her with the flowkit idea, she was impressed by how in tune she was with people’s practical basic needs.

Gow said in general, openness to talking about periods is generational, with younger people feeling more comfortable speaking about it. But the demographic of women in shelters tends to be older, Gow said, leading some within the shelter population to think of it as more of a taboo topic.

“I think most women Monday were open to talking to Lily,” she said. “We have a larger percentage of women who are past their cycle, so it depends what their age is. But it’s a good time for people to start realizing it’s a fact of life, and it shouldn’t be hidden or be anything people feel bad about.”

Gow also said Alter has been composed and serious about this project, and she has been fearless in asking for support or donations and in asking women directly if they need supplies.

Alter has another day at a shelter scheduled for Monday, and she has plans to expand to other churches and shelters throughout Oak Park. She’d like to eventually bring Flowing Forward to other surrounding suburbs as well.

“The women I’ve met were all super thankful, but I don’t do this for women to thank me. I do this for women to have tampons and pads,” she said.

Flowing Forward is still collecting donations through gofundme. More information about Housing Forward’s long-term solution for preventing and ending homelessness is available online.

Photos courtesy of Lily Alter.