Almost every woman has a horror story about getting her period in public. Recently, I found myself with a surprise visitor at the movie theater, and two things ran through my mind: 1. I’m going to miss the beginning of the movie, and 2. I hope someone has an extra tampon. But the restroom was as dead as a ghost town. So there I was, soliciting strangers for tampons for what felt like an eternity as the movie started without me. Eventually, someone gifted me a neon green tube of life-saving cotton (thank you!) and I returned to my seat having only missed the credits.

If public access to feminine hygiene products sounds tough (and it is), it’s exponentially harder for homeless women. “Feminine hygiene products are a crucial part of basic needs,” says Desiree Moss, lead case manager at Shade Tree. The women’s shelter accepts feminine hygiene product donations and provides them to all their residents. And recently, the Las Vegas chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America teamed up with All Shades United, contributing feminine hygiene packs to ASU’s Lean on Me project, which distributes food, clothing and toiletries to the homeless. “Tampons and pads aren’t inexpensive,” says Desirae Wingerter, DSA chair of communications. “For people who don’t have the resources, that’s something that needs to be available.”

Thankfully, it looks like more public spaces are catching on. Restaurants like Violette’s Vegan offer organic feminine hygiene products free of charge in the women’s restroom, and a sign inside the bathroom at Hobak Korean BBQ encourages patrons to ask female employees for assistance if they don’t have quarters for the machine.

It makes you wonder why more period-friendly policies aren’t already in place around the Valley. Hopefully, with time, they will be.