Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Helps Break Down Barriers With Our Healthbox

We are excited to share that Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Centre (WHIWH) in Toronto now has an Our Healthbox — a discreet, easy-to-use way for anyone in our community to access important health and harm reduction supplies, no questions asked.

For us, this is much more than a new program. It’s a response to what we have heard time and again from the people we serve. Over the years, clients and community members have told us there are significant gaps in accessing certain items and resources.

Sometimes these supplies are not available at all; other times, they are inconsistently available or tied to systems that can feel intimidating or stigmatizing.

The Healthbox helps close that gap by offering a safe, judgment-free option to get what you need, when you need it.

The Women’s Health In Women’s Hands Healthbox includes harm reduction and health supplies such as:

• Naloxone kits, which can reverse the effects of opioid overdoses and save lives.

• Safe sex supplies, including condoms, which help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections.

• Menstrual hygiene products, which remain a critical yet often overlooked necessity.

• Wellness product: deodorant, lip balm, toothbrush and toothpaste, water bottle, KN95 face masks

We know that access to harm reduction is a right, and stigma should never stand in the way of health and safety. That’s why the Healthbox has been placed in a location where you can walk in, take what you need, and leave—privately, safely, and confidently.

The Our Healthbox program was first launched in January 2023 by Dr. Sean B. Rourke, a scientist at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital (Unity Health Toronto). MAP is a world-leading research hub that develops innovative, evidence-based solutions to improve health equity.

Since its launch, Our Healthboxes have expanded rapidly. Today, they are available in more than 20 communities across Canada, reaching over 10,000 people and dispensing more than 69,000 health and harm reduction supplies. This includes over 3,100 naloxone kits, more than 1,500 HIV self-test kits, and 5,600+ sexual health products. The impact is clear: each Healthbox is meeting people where they are and helping to save lives.

For WHIWH, this initiative is not a stand-alone effort but part of a larger commitment to our community.

The Healthbox, generously supported by the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR), is one of many tools we are adopting to make it easier for people to take care of themselves. CANFAR, along with key partners including BMO, has supported Healthboxes in communities across the country, including at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, North Bay (Ontario), and Dixon Hall in Toronto.

We hope this new addition becomes something our community can rely on—another trusted space that reduces barriers and increases access to the tools people need to live healthier, safer lives. It’s also an opportunity for us to deepen our connections, continue listening, and adapt to what our clients tell us is needed most.

At WHIWH, our work is guided by a vision of health and gender equity. As a Toronto-based Community Health Centre, we provide culturally safe, relevant, and responsive primary healthcare to racialized women, trans, and non-binary clients from African, Black, Caribbean, Latin American, and South Asian communities.

Our services are informed by an inclusive, feminist, pro-choice, anti-racist, and multilingual approach.

By embedding research directly into our programs, we ensure our care is not only responsive to the unique lived experiences of our clients, but also helps shape policies, services, and advocacy efforts that are grounded in evidence and equity.

The Healthbox is a step forward—but only one step. Together, with our clients, partners, and supporters, we remain committed to building a future where everyone has the right tools and resources to care for themselves, without barriers and without stigma.

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