Path and Green hopes to end 'period poverty' for girls at Clearview

LORAIN — Girls at Clearview High School have a new resource for hygiene products. Path & Green, a new nonprofit started by Sarah Yoder, announced a partnership with the district to provide personal care items to girls at the school. Yoder started Path & Green after her time as a teacher, administrator and volunteer in local schools and saw students going without basic hygiene or clothing items, she said. After her last child was born, she transitioned to being a stay-at-home mom, but she knew one day she wanted to start her own nonprofit. After watching a TikTok video with her daughter of a church in Oregon providing personal care items, alongside clothing, jewelry and makeup for girls in need, she said she couldn't get the idea out of her head. "Then I was just laying in bed thinking about it one night and I was like, 'Why don't you go mobile, Sarah?'" she said. From there, they purchased a truck, with plans to renovate it to create a mobile boutique to reach girls throughout Lorain County, she said. That truck will cost $50,000 to renovate, but in the meantime she's packaging orders for girls at Clearview High School to show the model works. The program is targeted at low-income families, but Yoder will never turn anyone away, she said. The goal is to tackle "period poverty" countywide — when a student has to miss days of school because they're on their menstrual cycle and lack supplies. The Community Foundation Women's Fund's "Change the Cycle" initiative looks to solve the lack of access to affordable feminine hygiene products for women and teens, citing that 1 in 5 girls in the country miss school due to their period and nearly half of all low-income women have to choose between buying food or hygiene supplies. "I originally met with (Clearview) back in March 2021. … Right away it was totally positive, they were so excited — they were like, 'We want to be your first Guinea pig.' So from day one they have been on board and have been just so thankful," she said. Girls who need items — from feminine hygiene products like pads and tampons to hair care items — can put in an order through their school counselor, or a teacher or staff member can fill out Yoder's Google form with approximations of what the student may need. Yoder packages the items in tissue paper and a brown paper bag so the girls don't feel embarrassed for getting the items, she said. Those items are donated by friends, or purchased using grant money from the Community Foundation of Lorain County's Women's Fund or GrowPoint Church in Amherst. With the Community Foundation's help, she ran an ioby, or "in your own backyard" campaign, to raise more than $3,000. Ioby is a nonprofit crowdfunding site. The Amherst High School girls swim team donated personal care items as well, she said. Alongside the requested hygiene products, Yoder wants to include small extras like jewelry or makeup so the girls can feel pampered and loved, she said. "I haven't heard anything from the girls (yet) but the counselors … they were just super grateful and thankful that we were doing this," she said. "They love it." To donate items toward the care packages, or funds toward the truck renovation, visit Path & Green's Facebook, @pathandgreen. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.