Determined Associated Student Government had a plan and strived to set it in motion. More specifically Kristiana Da Jose, holding her position as Academic Vice President at SFCC, ushered the grant writing to have an emergency contraceptive vending machine.
Opening up new opportunities on campus for students’ health while also encouraging them to save money.
This is something to be applauded as this student government led mission has been successfully awarded $10,000 regarding the placement of these.
ASG aims to have this vending machine up and running by the end of the school year. With a variety of different supplies such as Plan B, condoms, pain medication (tylenol and advil), antacids, and cough drops.
“Prices for Plan B will be $5 and the other items between $2-3 possibly even lower,” said Da Jose. “The company we buy the Plan B from allows us to stay self-sufficient as all funds from the vending machine will continue to go into the school and buy extra items for the machine. We are calling it the Wellness Vending Machine and the main reason is to erase the stigma of buying Plan B.”
ASG plans to locate the machine in the Student Union Building lobby.
“We chose the Student Union Building because there’s more traffic with students,” said Da Jose.
“Plus all the resources are here such as the ASG office, food pantries, financial aid, and such.”
While the machine will soon begin to run, there will remain a goal among SFCC students.
“For students to have equitable and affordable access to emergency contraceptives, especially as a college student,” said Da Jose.
“You’re already juggling tuition and other things so by having an inexpensive machine like this available SFCC students will now have it at their convenience.”
Throughout Spokane we have a few Planned Parenthood locations that offer Plan B and other forms of contraception. But in comparison to the Planned Parenthood contraceptive machine and the one currently being installed at SFCC there is certainly a price difference.
“Pricing for Plan B inside the machine costs $25 each or you can get them for free by booking an appointment and using insurance,” said a representative Planned Parenthood.
While Planned Parenthood is an accessible resource to all, not all students have access to health insurance and can book an appointment.
“The cost of the Plan B will be three times lower than Planned Parenthood EC machines,” said Natalie Martinez, Student Engagement Supervisor. “We did this in order to make it really affordable for students to access.”
SFCC is one of the first public colleges in Spokane to have this type of machine on campus, so there will naturally be doubts or concerns.
Abigail Williams is a student at SFCC and is looking forward to this being a step in normalizing contraceptive machines to students.
“I think normalizing it wouldn’t be harmful,” said Williams. “If anything it would kind of get out there to students that you know it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’ll definitely maybe help reduce stigmatism around them because when you think about it like a lot of people are embarrassed about the whole idea of these existing so I think having them kind of in daily life will kind of reduce that stigma of “oh it’s embarrassing.”
These efforts made for the machine are beneficial to all SFCC students in aiding health and wellness. After the opening reception for the machine is held everyone on campus will have access to price reduced contraceptives and other supplies. This is to be seen as a positive upgrade for our school. Health and wellness is crucial for college students as they significantly impact academic performance, mental well-being, and overall quality of life.