FlowForward is The Étoile Foundation’s mobile menstrual access initiative, delivering free, high‑quality period products and practical education directly to people in crisis through a national network of youth and women’s centres. Our beneficiaries face unstable housing, financial stress, trauma, and stigma that force many to improvise unsafe alternatives or go without. This undermines health, dignity, attendance at school or work.
We remove those barriers by placing “Take What You Need” trolleys – stocked with organic disposable pads and tampons, plus durable reusable period underwear – inside trusted services where people already seek help. Clear, culturally sensitive guidance materials accompany so beneficiaries can choose what works for them, understand safe use, and access support. By manufacturing at source and coordinating interstate distribution, we deliver far more units per dollar than retail purchase, ensuring consistent supply even when budgets are tight.
With our partnership with Street Side Medics, we also stock mobile GP clinic vans with menstrual kits so that people who are sleeping rough or accessing healthcare on the move receive the same immediate, stigma‑free access to essentials. Together, these channels meet people where they are, every day, in safe spaces they trust.
The result is simple and transformative: consistent access to essentials, fewer crises for frontline services to manage, and a tangible lift in dignity and wellbeing, all at scale.
We have big goals, with the ambition of knowing we will get there. Our objective is to measurably reduce period poverty for people in crisis by ensuring reliable, stigma-free access to safe products and practical education across clinics, shelters and youth centres.
Within 12 month we will:
1. Activate the “Take What You Need” trolley model across all eight Australian states and territories. We have a network of 82 organisations willing to participate. Success for us means at least 50 active trolley sites across Australia, with documented monthly restocks.
2. Stock 100% of Street Side Medics’ 11 mobile GP clinics (expanding to 13 in late-2026) on all operating days, guaranteeing product availability for approximately 3,300 patient visits per month. Success means zero stockouts recorded in clinic logs over successive restock cycles.
3. Provide every recipient with clear usage and care guidance, with at least 80% of surveyed users reporting they understand how to use products safely and feel comfortable asking for support.
4. Replace unsafe improvised alternatives among beneficiaries reached via clinics and community sites, with at least 60% of surveyed users reporting they no longer rely on improvised materials.
5. Improve participation outcomes, with youth-centre respondents reporting fewer missed days due to menstruation; target a 30% reduction in self‑reported missed school or program days among regular users.
With two of our Directors as Lawyers, transparency is vital to us. We will build transparency and sector learning into delivery from day one, sharing anonymised data and practical lessons to lift the whole sector.
Our Data Model:
- Captures site, date, product mix, volumes distributed, and restock intervals across Street Side Medics clinics, youth centres, and women’s shelters.
- Complemented by short, anonymous user surveys and optional focus groups to understand comfort, usability, product preferences, and dignity impacts.
- Partner services' simple indicators (reductions in emergency supply requests and qualitative observations on client wellbeing).
- We will collect no identifiable personal data; all reporting is aggregated and de‑identified.
Practical and Regular Sharing:
- We will publish an anonymised quarterly snapshot for investors and an annual impact brief covering distribution by region and partner type, stockout rates, user‑reported outcomes, and unit economics, including manufacturing‑at‑source savings.
- Funders will be publicly thanked multiple times throughout the year (unless we are directed not to).
- Insights will inform stocking mixes, education materials, and the balance between disposable and reusable options at each site.
The Étoile Foundation fights period poverty with dignity, education, and empowerment. We deliver menstrual health education, foster supportive communities, and champion sustainable, reusable products in Australia and Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa). We are dedicated to being a reliable source of support and stability for menstruating people in vulnerable situations.
