06/07/2026
We built this community brick by brick.
Since 2021, we’ve applied for and received state and county proclamations for our annual Mālama Your Ma`i campaign and Period Poverty Awareness week, recognized by the Alliance for Period Supplies. I still remember the first year we applied and our request got rejected. It felt like a defeat, but we didn’t take no for an answer. Instead, we leaned on community connections, and with the help of Khara when she was head of the State Commission on the Status of Women, we got it done.
This year’s celebration and proclamation feels like a full circle moment.
In 2021, Khara organized a proclamation presentation with First Lady Dawn Ige, legislators and community members over Zoom because no one was meeting in person due to COVID. I vividly remember Senator Kurt Fevella was the only legislator on that Zoom to speak openly about how important the issue and proclamation was. He shared about the women in his family, their experiences, and it was in that moment that I knew we were making an impact beyond us.
And here we are five years later…this picture means so much to us and shows how far we’ve come.
Everyone pictured here represents a part of our history and story of our services, advocacy work, and community partnerships. We are especially grateful to the Senate President Kouchi for championing our policies and never shying away from talking to everyone and anyone, in and out of the Capitol, about periods and the importance of this work. It is because of him that Hawai’i is a leader in the menstrual equity policy space.
🌺And don’t forget to make your voice heard by June 30th… We’re currently conducting a 5-year follow-up survey to better understand how access, awareness, and experiences around menstruation have changed across Hawaiʻi, and where gaps still remain.
🔗 Take the survey at bit.ly/2026maisurvey and enter to win an exclusive Maʻi pouch.
