Photo: Hope & Comfort Facebook
NEEDHAM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Needham non-profit providing hygiene essentials to students in Eastern Massachusetts since 2010 gets a shot in the arm.
Hygiene insecurity affects 1 in 3 people in Massachusetts, with significant impacts on mental health, especially for school-age children.
Hope & Comfort Hygiene Hub was one of 35 recipients of a grant from the Massachusetts General Hospital Community Impact Funds.
H&C Hygiene Hub CEO Kerry Carter said the funding will allow H&C Hygiene Hub to meet the hygiene needs of some 2000 students at two Chelsea middle schools for the remainder of this school year and next year.
She said the funding fills a gap by providing students with much-needed hygiene products that typical assistance programs do not provide. "Soap and toothpaste, toothbrushes, menstrual products, they are not covered by SNAP, or what we used to call food stamps or WIC," she said.
She added that ensuring students have access to hygiene products builds their confidence and self-esteem, increasing school attendance and employment. "We know that kids are going to go to school more, they are going to participate in sports more, or other activities like drama or debate club or whatever it is that gets them excited to interact with their peers," she said.
This year, in total, H&C Hygiene Hub will distribute 5 million products to people across the state.
WBZ News Radio's Nichole Davis (@NicholeDWBZ) reports.