Dignity Matters Inc

In the short term, we strive to provide free tampons, sanitary napkins and underwear to those women and girls who cannot afford or readily access them. Addressing women’s most basic needs is central to improving the quality of their life, which in turn improves the lives of their family and all those around them. Through our current programs at shelters, public schools, food pantries and medical centers for homeless population, Dignity Matters support 2100 women EVERY MONTH with full period protection, as well as required underwear.
Our long term vision is a world where basic feminine hygiene products are available in all public bathrooms, free of charge, just like toilet paper is (and, incidentally, for similar health and cleanliness reasons). Accomplishing this, ideally though legislative changes, would bring us a big step closer to achieving true equality, which is imperative for a fair and sustainable world where everyone can thrive.

After six years of operations Dignity Matters grew from a small grass-roots organization to the largest reliable provider of period protection and underwear for homeless women in Massachusetts. We currently (2022) serve over 14,000 women each month with all their menstrual needs, as well as underwear and bras to truly provide them with comfort and dignity we all deserve.
To scale up, Dignity Matters went successfully through a strategic shift from predominantly in-kind donations, to a more scalable product purchasing strategy. This higher efficiency model of increased purchases of products directly from a low-cost volume manufacturer quickly enabled us to increase scale of operation by directly delivering the right specification product, straight to the women in most need, with more controlled delivery timing and product batch quantities exactly matching the needs of the shelters, schools, food pantries we support on monthly basis.
We have negotiated extremely low built-to-spec product supply costs and we plan to pursue our strategic shift over the next 3 years to reach over 4,000 women per month (in 2020), 8,000 women monthly in 2021 and 14,000 women in 2022. As of May 2022 we can confirm we achieved the goal and we continue to grow to serve even more women in need.

Dignity Matters is managed by a strong Board of Directors and Advisory Board who work closely together on governance, vision, relationships, advice and funding. Our staffing consists of the Executive Director, Development Director, Foundations Officer, Warehouse Coordinator and Outreach/Volunteers Coordinator. Our mission is also supported by over 100 regular and 500 additional volunteers each year.
Over the last 2 years we also invested heavily in systems and processes to run efficient operation.

In six years Dignity Matters developed 5 programs through which we serve on monthly basis over 14,000 women at:

1) homeless shelters
2) public schools
3) food pantries
5) public colleges and universities
6) textiles program (underwear and bras) for all women we serve

Dignity Matters also organizes bra and underwear fittings (Dignity Beneath the Blouse Program) through which we serve women at shelters in Boston, Cambridge and Metro-West area. During a one half-day bra fitting as many as 150 homeless women can be fitted with new bras.

Dignity Matters parents with over 160 nonprofits EACH MONTH to deliver over 2.4 million free item each year to the community of local women in need.