Sylvias Sisters
Mission
Sylvia's Sisters mission is to provide free period products and feminine hygiene education to menstruators who lack access to basic feminine hygiene needs due to lack of availability and/or poverty. By helping menstruators have better hygiene, Sylvia's Sisters shall help improve the health of menstruators and aid in their ability to attend school and work regularly with dignity and become productive members of their community.
Notes from the nonprofit
Sylvia’s Sisters began after Jennifer Taylor developed a friendship with Sylvia Namukasa, an environmentalist based in the rural village of Kirinda, Uganda. Sylvia had noticed that a lack of reusable period products prevented girls from attending school in Kirinda, and she requested assistance from Jennifer. In 2013, Jennifer and teams of volunteers in Virginia were able to send 300 kits of handmade, washable period products to Sylvia’s village. One year later, Sylvia’s Sisters was officially founded. A few years later, the group transitioned from making pad to purchasing reusable pads in-country from a local manufacturer committed to hiring Ugandan women. In 2016, Sylvia's Sisters launched a domestic mission to provide disposable period products to Virginian menstruators through partnerships with schools and community organizations. As of the end of 2022, Sylvia’s Sisters has distributed more than 688,000 period products in Virginia and more than 14,600 reusable pads around the world.
Ruling year
2014
Executive Director
Brittany Averette
Main address
P.O. Box 13812
Richmond, VA 23225 USA
EIN
47-2593789
NTEE code
Human Service Organizations (P20)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.
Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Two out of every five menstruators struggle to afford or access basic hygiene supplies. This is what’s known as period poverty. Sylvia’s Sisters tackles period poverty by working with local schools and community organizations to distribute period products to menstruators in need, free of charge. No one should have to miss school, work, or other activities because they can’t afford the necessities they require. Period poverty exists, in part, because of social taboos surrounding menstruation. Sylvia’s Sisters believes that every menstruator deserves the right to manage their menstrual cycle with dignity. Our educational outreach strives to help menstruators know what is normal about their period or what should be a concern, and we work to challenge the stigma surrounding periods to help menstruators feel confident in expressing their needs and reducing the shame surrounding this very normal human function.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Period Product Distribution in Central Virginia
Many people never think about what a lack of access to affordable period supplies can mean to those who menstruate. It can mean missing work or school, wearing products for too long, or using unsanitary substitutes for menstrual hygiene care – all of which can lead to lost income, educational setbacks, and detrimental health effects. In many US states, period supplies are taxed as “luxury” items, making them even more cost prohibitive, and there is no federal aid program to help with purchasing these necessities.
We address period poverty by providing local schools and community organizations with period products and kits (packages containing pads, tampons, and/or liners for one menstruator for one month) to distribute to menstruators in need, free of charge. Our volunteers also distribute period products directly to individuals and families through participation in resource fairs and community events aimed at low-income populations.
Menstrual Health and Hygiene in Uganda
Since 2013, Sylvia's Sisters has provided more than 9,700 reusable menstrual pads to women and girls of the Bukomansimbi district in rural Uganda. Girls who cannot safely manage their periods may miss class, fall behind in their studies, and drop out of school. Without an education, they are more likely to marry and have children at a young age.
Unfortunately, girls in this region have experienced difficulty washing their reusable pads thoroughly and continuing their educations due to inconsistent access to water at home and school, a problem projected to be exacerbated by climate change. Women and children often miss work or school as they hunt for natural sources of water for their families. As a result, we’ve expanded our work to include providing access to clean water through the installation of rainwater catchments systems at schools identified by our Ugandan-based team member.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Proud member of Alliance for Period Supplies 2019
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of fulfilled requests for period products
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Period Product Distribution in Central Virginia
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of schools receiving period products
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Period Product Distribution in Central Virginia
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
In 2023, we strive to:
- Increase our period product distributions by 20% in areas with disproportionately high low-income populations
- Re-initiate our educational programming by including informational materials in our period kits and sponsoring a speaking engagement with a health professional
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Expanding our reach is the best way to fight period poverty in the greater Richmond area. By providing free, quality period products via an increased number of partner agencies and distribution events aimed at low-income populations, we will continue working toward removing some of the financial burden for as many local menstruators as possible.
Providing free educational materials written by qualified healthcare professionals in our period kits will empower local menstruators to ask questions and receive factual information about menstrual health in a safe setting. We will re-initiate our educational mission, which was temporarily suspended due to in-person COVID-19 restrictions, by collaborating with a healthcare professional to create printed educational materials on menstrual health to include in our period kits. We aim to also distribute these materials at up to 2 speaking engagements to at-risk populations in which the healthcare professional would inform participants about healthy menstrual cycle management.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Sylvias Sisters
Board of directorsas of 06/27/2023
Brittany Averette
Katie Irvine Wadey
Heather Lennon
Erika Bedwell
Jennifer Taylor
Organizational demographics
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Leadership
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Race & ethnicity
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