New Queens-Based Nonprofit Aims To Combat Period Poverty

FRESH MEADOWS, QUEENS — Facia Class’ first-ever gynecological exam, at the age of 24, led to shocking news. She had cancerous cells in her uterus.

"When you're 24 and you hear ‘biopsy’ and ‘cancer,’ you go into a complete state of shock,” she said.

Class turned to the Internet to find out what this meant for her. The research she found was either alarming or unreliable, she said.

"I felt really ill-informed and basically alone,” she told Patch by phone.

Meagan Molina can relate to that feeling. She developed complications from taking birth control pills and landed in the hospital on the verge of septic shock. She felt like there wasn't much information that shed light on her experience, she said.

The two Fresh Meadows residents are now launching a nonprofit called the White Lotus Collective to help young women in under-served communities make informed decisions about their bodies.

The White Lotus Collective, which the duo co-founded with Anthony J. Lemma, formally launches Tuesday with a campaign to educate Queens girls from 12 to 14 on menstrual health.

It's all in the name of combatting period poverty, which refers to the lack of access to menstrual products and education.

Class and Molina are developing a menstruation kit that includes tampons, pads, liners and information on local resources related to menstrual and reproductive health. Translations will be available in Spanish, Mandarin and Bengali, and the team is looking to add even more languages.

The nonprofit will partner with Queens schools to distribute the kits, Class and Molina said, but any current partnerships are still tentative. (The City Council in 2016 passed a bill requiring free tampons and pads in public school restrooms.)

Class and Molina, who are both Latina, note that cultural norms often shape girls' education on menstrual and reproductive health. Their goal for the nonprofit is to foster open discussions about menstruation and other women's health issues while being mindful of this diversity in experience.

"In our culture, there's this stigma," Molina said.

"It's all been taboo," Class added. "Our families come from a generation where you kind of just deal with it."

The White Lotus Collective founders will focus on Queens for now. Board members include Queens Chamber of Commerce President Thomas J. Grech and Linda Lee, executive director of the Bayside-based nonprofit Korean Community Services.

Future plans include a storytelling platform, discussions and panels, Class and Molina said. They also want to create an app to provide girls with safe, localized information on menstruation and reproductive health.

"These issues are happening in our own backyard," Class said.