Public bathrooms offer free soap and toilet paper, but there's more needed to help women maintain good health and hygiene - pads and tampons. 

The City of Tempe offers free pads and tampons in 16 community bathrooms within six city facilities.    

• Tempe Public Library, 3500 S. Rural Road 
• Pyle Center, 655 E. Southern Ave.  
• Tempe History Museum, 809 E. Southern Ave. 
• Edna Vihel Arts, 3340 S. Rural Road 
• Tempe City Hall, 31 E. Fifth St.
• Tempe 525 Building, 20 E. Sixth St. 

Get help

Need help with food, housing, utility payments, job training or other resources? Get connected through our Tempe Community Health and Human Services Department.

Give help 

Support women experiencing homelessness and others in need by donating to Women4Women Tempe, which provide free feminine hygiene supplies throughout our community.  Donate supplies or host a packing party.  

Period Poverty

The City of Tempe believes that no woman should have to go without menstrual products for lack of money. 

The accessibility of of menstrual products is vital to women's health and well-being, but access to menstrual products can be challenging for homeless women and low-income families. Teenage girls are often the most affected. 

• 23% of female students have struggled to afford period products.
• 16% have had to make the choice of whether to buy period products over food or clothes
• 51% of students have worn period products for longer than recommended or will utilize materials unintended for menstruation to save money. This can cause life-threatening health issues, such as toxic shock syndrome.
• About one of five girls miss school due to the lack of access to feminine hygiene products.
• Two-thirds of low-income women cannot afford menstrual products. 

(Statistics from Harvard Heath Publishing)

Currently, the Internal Revenue Service does not classify tampons and pads as medical expenses. Therefore, tampons and pads cannot be purchased through government assistance programs like SNAP or Medicaid.

Tempe leads with compassion

It is believed that Tempe now offers more locations for free hygiene products than any other Arizona city.  

Free menstrual products can help vulnerable women succeed by removing the barriers to going to school or work, and allowing women to purchase food, transportation, clothing and other necessities instead. 

Some states have passed legislation to ensure that schools offer free menstrual products to students. These states include: Delaware, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington.