WHS senior on quest to help unhoused

As an employee at Round Table Pizza in Camas, Washougal High School senior Emily Bishop has learned about the challenges people facing homelessness struggle with on a daily basis.

“There’s a lot of homeless people that kind of hang out over there,” Bishop said. “Nine times out of 10, they’re some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Homeless people are people. They deserve to be looked after and to be helped.”

Now, Bishop has decided to provide hands-on help and raise awareness about homelessness in the Camas-Washougal community. She is collecting donations to put together feminine hygiene kits, which she plans to give to local homeless shelters next spring.

“I’m happy that I get to make change in the community, even if it’s for a short time. I hope it inspires other people to think about how poorly homeless people are treated, especially around here,” Bishop said.

Her efforts coincide with Bishop’s quest to attain a Gold Award, the highest achievement within Girl Scouts USA, which is currently earned by fewer than 6% of eligible senior and ambassador Girl Scouts, according to the national organization.

“It’s a pretty big thing in Girl Scouts to get your Gold Award, especially because so many girls don’t go past elementary school,” Bishop said. “To get your Gold Award is pretty rare. Also, you have opportunities to get scholarships through it.”

Bishop said she hopes her feminine hygiene kits will inspire other Girl Scouts to think about the daily struggles unhoused people experience each day.

“I hope to inspire other Girl Scouts to take more steps to help homeless people and just raise awareness about how big of a problem it is — not that homeless people exist, but the fact that we don’t take care of our homeless people,” Bishop said.

Bishop has been a member of the Washougal Girl Scout Troop 45703 for the past 10 years.

“I really like how much it’s taught me,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of community service through Girl Scouts. It’s really opened me up to a lot of opportunities, and it’s helped me see the world in a different way than most teenagers.”

Bishop decided to make feminine hygiene kits to help unhoused community members save money on the often costly products.

“For anything that’s a necessity, I think there should be a lot more regulation on how much it costs,” Bishop said. “And feminine hygiene products are so hard to get a hold of, especially if you don’t have any money, and homeless shelters only get so much. I think that just really drove me.”

The National Organization for Women (NOW) has stated that, without the basic resources needed to feel clean, safe and secure, monthly menstrual cycles can be “devastating for the more than 210,000 women experiencing homelessness in the United States.”

The group added that “the average woman spends about $20 on feminine hygiene products per cycle, adding up to about $18,000 over her lifetime. Pads and tampons are expensive, and many shelters are not only overcrowded, but lack resources to provide more than a few items per menstrual cycle. … Alternative dollar store brands are often cheaply made and not durable enough to be a serious option.”

Bishop began her project in early November by contacting three Vancouver homeless shelters, receiving responses from two of them — the Council for the Homeless and Open House Ministries — and eliciting donations on social media.

“I said, ‘Here’s what a Gold Award is. Here’s what I want to do. I want to create feminine hygiene boxes. Roughly how many would you need?’” Bishop said. “They (responded) ‘Whatever you have is great. We’ll take anything.’ After that, I started posting, primarily on Facebook, in community groups. I’d be like, ‘Hey, does anybody have any pads or deodorant or toothpaste or toothbrushes that you’re not using?’”

Bishop hopes to create 200 kits by mid-March 2025, and is filling shoe boxes with pads, tampons, panty liners, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, compact hair brushes, hair ties, chapstick and lotion.

She is encouraging local residents to donate products they have already or have purchased off her Amazon “wish list.” She also is accepting cash donations and offering gift-wrapping services to raise funds for the project.

“I’ve had so many people either use my gift-wrapping services or just donate money,” she said. “I’ve picked up things from countless people. I had one lady donate 180 toothbrushes; she bought them off Amazon. I’ve had a lot of packages at my door from people buying things off the Amazon wish list. It’s just been really great to see how willing the community is to help.”

As part of the Gold Award project, Bishop is planning to create a video to give to the homeless shelters to pass along to people who ask what they can do to help.

In the video, she plans to talk about homelessness and about what people can do to help their unhoused community members — especially by donating necessities such as feminine hygiene products.

“I’ve definitely learned how hard it is to get access to these sorts of things. I’ve learned how little access and how little support homeless people get, especially in forms of legislation to protect them,” Bishop said. “There’s just not a lot of things done to help them.”

Bishop is serving as the Washougal City Council’s student representative during the 2024-25 school year, delivering reports about Washougal High School activities and providing feedback on City issues during Council meetings.

“It’s definitely really interesting. I get to see the fun and the boring parts, of course, and how it all works,” said Bishop, who is planning to attend college and study neuropsychology after graduating from Washougal High in 2025. “I didn’t really know much about how the local government worked at all, so I think it’s a great learning opportunity to get to see how our government works, (learn about) elected officials and the whole process, see how budgets are created and passed, and be able to hear local community members express concerns. It’s cool to see how everything works and get that opportunity to learn.”

To donate items for Bishop’s feminine hygiene kits, email bishop.emily.g@gmail.com or visit bit.ly/EmilyBishopWishList.