About Us
Amenity Aid is Rhode Island’s only hygiene bank, providing essential hygiene products to those in need through our partnerships with 11 social service agencies around the state. We operate like a food bank, but for hygiene products that food banks typically don’t provide.
An estimated 1 in 3 Rhode Island families struggle to afford hygiene products, and 2 in 5 menstruators struggle to purchase period products. There are no government assistance programs (SNAP, WIC, etc.) that address this widespread hygiene insecurity, and most social service agencies lack the funding and capacity to provide these products.
We exist solely to provide desperately needed hygiene products in full and travel sizes to vulnerable populations throughout Rhode Island. This includes individuals of all ages who are unemployed, underemployed, unhoused, at-risk veterans, low-income, immigrants, refugees, and victims of violence and abuse via a network of partner agencies. Amenity Aid supplies products to partner social service agencies that serve these populations; those agencies, in turn, provide products directly to individuals in need.
Nine Necessities
Soap / Body wash
Razors
Shaving cream
Shampoo
Conditioner
Deodorant
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Period products
As one of the largest hygiene banks in the country, our mission is to eliminate hygiene insecurity by providing the “Nine Necessities” needed to maintain basic personal hygiene.
Serving Diverse Populations
Our list of necessities is not finished, but rather an on-going effort to evaluate and prioritize products based on community input. Our program partners provide regular feedback, giving us the opportunity to adjust our products to meet cultural needs and preferences.
Breaking Barriers to Hygiene in Rhode Island
Hygiene insecurity is a problem we can solve, and we are already making headway in our state. Our operation’s model is tried, tested, and locally recognized by the United Way of Rhode Island (211 Partner of the Year Award from United Way, 2022) and the Rhode Island Foundation (Honoring Best Practices for Innovative Programing and Service Delivery, 2023). We aim to create the most efficient, effective, and impactful hygiene bank in the United States, capable of ending hygiene insecurity in Rhode Island.
Our Mission
Amenity Aid’s mission is to end hygiene insecurity in Rhode Island by supplying essential hygiene products to individuals and families in need. We do this by supplying 11 social service agencies around the state with the “Nine Necessities,” personal care products required for basic hygiene, wellness and dignity. These products are distributed by those agencies directly to individuals and families in need.
We also work to end period poverty in Rhode Island by supplying essential period care products to individuals and families that struggle to afford them.
Our Vision
We envision a world in which hygiene insecurity has been eliminated, and Amenity Aid no longer needs to exist. Until then, our vision is to create the most efficient, effective and impactful hygiene bank in the United States, capable of ending hygiene insecurity in Rhode Island. We work to achieve this vision by building partnerships, educating the public about hygiene insecurity, and continuously improving our system for sourcing, storing and distributing the “Nine Necessities” hygiene products.
Our Core Values
