Tom Morgan is the Board President of Project Dignity, an organization that provides period products to approximately 50,000 menstruators every month. He took over the charity when his wife Barbara passed away in 2021, and since then, it has been his mission to make a difference and change the narrative that this is a women’s issue.

“I have learnt to leave any male bias aside.” He says.

“There’s the notion that there are more compelling needs and competitive social issues.  It may be that all legislatures consist of a majority of males. Senior white males might have a built-in bias against women’s issues. Especially since the 2016 US election.” He added

1 in 6 menstruators in North Carolina are living below the so-called Federal Poverty Level ($15,650 annual for a single person) and are struggling to afford menstrual products. The average rental for a one-bed flat in nearby Asheville, NC, is about $1500/month.

Tom says, “The current systems in this country are still behind the curve on solving a very large, very important, and very prejudicial healthcare problem, that of menstruators who lack access to healthy period products due to economic stress, domestic violence, homelessness, etc.  Nonprofits such as Project Dignity are not being threatened with going out of business for lack of their mission’s targets anytime soon.”

North Carolina is one of the 19 states that still have a tax on period products.

“If somebody who’s male can buy a non-essential product on a tax-free basis, there’s an inequity there,” Tom said.

“Women have to have this. It’s not an optional thing every month. There are so many studies out there that show the inequity. But again, in the main, the federal government  hasn’t moved the needle that much.”

Under the US welfare system, people in need are given SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). These consist of funds on a card to buy food, free education, and job training opportunities. However, women are unable to purchase menstrual products using this money, meaning they are left with nothing.

Tom says that women facing the brunt of this turn to Project Dignity every month.

“We don’t let people starve, do we?” He says. 

“Why would we let women go without needed menstrual products?  We’re in 10 counties, which roughly translates into something like 50,000 menstruators annually who look to us every month for their period products. We’ve been doing that for eight years, and if you don’t think that won’t keep up at night, I don’t know what will.”

The organization was originally founded by Tom’s wife, Barbara, in 2016 when she received a phone call from a family member and discovered that soap, personal care products, or non-food items such as toilet paper, nappies, and menstrual products cannot be purchased through SNAP payments. 

Tom said, “For my wife, that got into her like a rock in her shoe. It just did not sit well with her.”

“She gathered up a few friends and said, Did you realize this? And of course, no one had.” He added.

“So she began to generate some energy. And anyway, the nonprofit Project Dignity came about. It’s a labor of love, and I’m very fortunate to be associated with it.”

He also said, “The reason that we are called Project Dignity is that my wife recognized early on that, for one, having to go to someone and ask for help for period products could be very embarrassing. So, her idea was to take away an obstacle to one’s dignity by providing access so that they didn’t have to worry about that. This is a natural thing. Let’s just face the fact that we have the resources.”

Sadly, it is rare that men are seen actively involved in issues associated with women. Tom is one of the few men who can identify the importance of breaking through the current dystopia of womanhood still present in modern America.

 “This is not a female problem. This is a societal problem as a whole.” Tom said.

“The legislators are made up majority of men. And in fact, perhaps old white men. I write to my legislator, who is a white male, mid-50s multimillionaire, I sense that he has other things on his mind than trying to apply the resources that he controls to period poverty in just the area that he represents, which is western North Carolina. So, there’s a huge resistance as a body, sometimes in a legislature, to sort of put aside one’s maleness. It’s almost a sign of weakness to say, ‘oh, it’s those shrewish women again that are trying to get our resources.’ I found they tend to hide behind it, and they’re sensitive to the issues. They’ve put forth some legislation, hopefully, to try to move the needle. However, it’s gone nowhere.” He added.

 “It’s a natural thing for me. And the fact that I have a Y chromosome hasn’t slowed me down.”

Despite the size of Project Dignity, its impact is large, and Tom doesn’t feel that the demand for support from the women suffering most will fade anytime soon.

“I hope we continue to sustain our mission through financial donations and grants.” He says

“In the long run, I’d love to be able to be declared obsolete because the problem would have gone away or been better managed by folks who control large resources. That’s wishful thinking, though, isn’t it?”

For more information Project Dignity: Project Dignity of WNC – Nonprofit serving Hendersonville, Asheville, and surrounding countries – Project Dignity of WNC