Community Programs

Teamwork.

Our work with Indigenous students has introduced us to others doing vital work outside the school context in support of Indigenous youth and families. While our focus remains on school programs, we’ve added – and will continue to add – selected non-school partners to help ensure that individuals they serve do not have to miss school or work or activities of daily life when they are on their periods, or the indignity of stained clothing, or use period supplies for longer than intended and risk their health due to insufficient supplies.

Conscious Alliance Food Sovereignty & Youth Empowerment Center

Oglala, SD

Rock the Rez Summer Camps

SD

During summer 2023, through our connection with the terrific nonprofit, Conscious Alliance, we were invited to meet the period care needs of campers and staff participating in the Rock the Rez Summer Camps in South Dakota. Rock The Rez aims to empower Indigenous girls, two-spirited, transgender, and gender diverse youth to build self-esteem and find their voices through unique programming that combines music education and performance, empowerment and social justice workshops, creative collaboration, positive role models and leadership skill building.

We supported two week-long rock camps – one on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the other on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. We look forward to partnering with Rock the Rez again in future summers.

Shiprock Office of Diné Youth

AZ, NM, and UT

Shiprock Office of Diné Youth serves hundreds upon hundreds of students across the Navajo Nation. Its vision statement aligns closely with our own goals:

The Office of Diné Youth is committed to enhancing traits of youth such as: integrity, self-discipline, loyalty and respect to successfully participate in today’s society as a Diné/Native American. The Office of Diné Youth is dedicated to ensuring that Navajo Youth under 21 years of age benefit from youth services available to them and that the services be provided in a manner that develops positive attitudes, enhance positive self-image, confidence, maturity, and pride in being a productive member of society.

We enthusiastically began our partnership in October 2022, providing our full array of period supplies and obtaining high-quality sports bras for students through our friends at Bras for Girls.

Gedakina

ME and VT

We have partnered with Gedakina for several years now, providing period supplies and our moon time bags to the Indigenous students from across New England who are served by Gedakina. Gedakina works to expose the young people it serves to resources and opportunities that enable them to choose and pursue positive life paths.

Native Village of Marshall

Marshall, AK

In August 2022, The Kwek Society began furnishing about 100 students and community members in the Native Village of Marshall, Alaska, with the full range of period supplies we offer, along with puberty education materials (Glad Rags’ Passage book) for students. Our contact, Robert Pitka, reports that for many villagers, period supplies are unaffordable.

Community Renewal of Pottawatomie County

Shawnee, OK

Community Renewal of Pottawatomie County operates in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It is dedicated to helping neighbors restore their communities through intentional relationships. In June 2021 The Kwek Society began partnering with the group to stock its two friendship houses — homes staffed with full-time community coordinators to support neighbors in restoring their community from the inside out — with our moon time bags, so that community members have period supplies available when needed.

In April 2023 a devastating tornado tore through Shawnee, Oklahoma. Thanks to the support of our many donors, we were able to respond quickly and ship period supplies to Community Renewal for its distribution to folks affected by the disaster.