Nonprofit run by teenagers helps provide hygiene kits to Ohio homeless shelters
A group of teenagers are helping provide hygiene kits to homeless shelters across Ohio.
Olentangy High School senior Hersh Gandhi founded the nonprofit Brighten Initiative, which helps meet the hygiene-access gaps in schools and homeless shelters.
Brighten Initiative, which launched in May, has distributed more than 9,000 hygiene products in central Ohio and has partnered with several homeless shelters.
These include Open Shelter in Franklin County, the Dayton Dream Center in Montgomery County, Impact Station in Union County, Star House Columbus in Franklin County, and the Huckleberry House in Franklin County, among others.
The Brighton Initiative donated nearly 100 hygiene kits this fall to Huckleberry House in Columbus, which provides shelter and support to young people.
The kits included toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, wipes, and feminine hygiene products.
“Although hygiene kits may seem simple, for young people facing homelessness or housing insecurity, access to essentials like soap, deodorant, and period products allows them to face the day with dignity, boosts their confidence, and removes one more barrier during a crisis,” said Huckleberry House spokesperson Emily Armbrecht.
Gandhi got the idea to start Brighton Initiative after doing an internship at Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office where he was exploring health inequities.
“We saw a big problem was that health inequities, like the big ones, were being solved by a bunch of other organizations, but small inequities like hygiene were pretty much not saturated at all,” he said.
“We obviously can’t expand healthcare to these areas, but we could give small hygiene kits.”
Olentangy High School senior Videsh Veeragandham is Brighton’s chief operating office, and Cornell University freshman Rohan Batra is Brighton’s chief financial officer.
“We’ve been able to see the impact we have on everyday people around us,” Batra said. “I think it really feels like we’re actually making a difference.”
Brighten recently partnered with “I Support the Girls,” an Indiana-based nonprofit that collects new and used bras, and new packages of tampons and pads to give to girls and women experiencing homelessness.
They also plan on partnering with Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center to help work with families in central Ohio.
In addition to their work with homeless shelters, they have also helped teach more than 600 Olentangy elementary school students about hygiene through curriculum, posters, and worksheets.
The students plan to continue Brighton when they are all at college and even expand it at the collegiate level.
“The more regional chapters we have, the more we’re going to be able to mobilize people and distribute to more homeless shelters,” Batra said.
“One of the things that we’ve all agreed on is that we want to continue to expand this as far as we can. And go from a state level impact to a national level impact to, hopefully, one day achieving an international impact as well.”
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