 launched "Health Jawn" to benefit LGBTQ+ and marginalized students.){kind=link}
“I couldn’t be happier after the inauguration that we witnessed yesterday that on the first day of this new presidency, we do something so wonderfully inclusive and supportive of our young people,” said Councilmember Rue Landau at a Jan. 21 ribbon-cutting ceremony for two new initiatives at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) that will benefit LGBTQ+ and marginalized students.
The college unveiled their “Health Jawn” — a free vending machine stocked with reproductive and sexual health supplies, such as condoms and pregnancy tests, and other “health jawns.” That includes COVID-19 tests, menstrual products, toothbrushes and hygiene items, fentanyl and xylazine testing strips, and more.
Students interested in accessing those products will no longer be shuffled around to different offices or need to be “in the know” to find access. They can simply make a selection on the vending machine — which does not accept any money — and their selection will be dispensed.
It lives in a semi-private area of the Student Union Center, behind a half-wall and between two newly installed gender-neutral bathrooms. Smaller gumball-style machines dispense pregnancy tests and condoms in other areas on campus and will also be placed at the school’s regional campuses in Northeast and West Philadelphia.
A grant helped CCP make this investment, and staffers hope to purchase another next year. The machines will continue to be stocked thanks to community partnerships and donors making purchases from an Amazon Wishlist.
The vending machines create anonymity and increase access — an experience Landau described as “the perfect embodiment of taking back ownership of your body and of your rights.”
“This is the first vending machine I’ve seen of its kind, but hopefully it won’t be the last,” she underlined, noting that she’s going to see what she can do at City Hall to ensure more vending machines like this are placed throughout the city. “We need to take care of our communities, and this is a perfect first start.”
While contraception is used to prevent pregnancy, many also use contraceptive medications to manage medical conditions and use condoms to prevent STIs. Condom use increased during the height of the HIV crisis — and since the ’90s, the practice of consistently and correctly utilizing condoms has reportedly prevented approximately 117 million new HIV infections worldwide.
Free condoms are also available through Take Control Philly — a youth-focused initiative that allows Philadelphians ages 13-19 to order condom kits online for discreet delivery. The program distributed more than 1 million condoms in 2024 — demonstrating the high demand and the commitment of city leaders to be proactive in efforts to resource young people who have this need.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, CCP also announced that the Women’s Outreach and Advocacy Center, a 20-year institution, and the recently established MarcDavid LGBTQ Center are merging into a unified resource space, the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center.
The move is an attempt to “break down silos,” said Melissa Fogg, underlining that struggles for gender justice and reproductive freedom are deeply connected.
Fogg, who serves as executive director of Student Support Initiatives at the Community College of Philadelphia, said the merger aligns with the approach many college campuses are beginning to take and comes after the broader community reflected on the identities, needs and requests of students who use these spaces. The commonalities, intersections and shared goals made combining forces an obvious win.
Many of the programs developed through the center will be student-led or collaborative efforts. Students recently developed “menstruation stations,” for example — hubs for free menstrual products throughout campus.
But opportunities to connect as a community are equally as important for academic success and general wellness. Kelly Lake, who manages the new Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, said the LGBTQ+ club is the largest club on campus. Approximately 100 students are active in the group. Some are also working on drag shows and planning the theme for an annual queer prom.
Fogg said it can be difficult to gather data about the invisible needs of marginalized students — as those experiences aren’t always obvious or well-documented. But concerns often include housing insecurity—which Fogg estimates affects about 35% of CCP students—food insecurity, impacting roughly 60%, and transportation challenges. LGBTQ+ students have also reported high rates of domestic violence, a lack of family support, and being placed in dangerous situations — all related to their gender or sexuality.
Although some of these experiences require CCP leaders to connect students to resources beyond the college, Fogg explained that advocates also try to cast a wide net and think creatively as they develop services and access points.
The center will offer STI testing on campus in the future thanks to a partnership with the Department of Public Health. It’s also providing students with resources for prenatal care and tangible items that support students with young children — such as pack-and-plays, diapers, and infant care supplies.
“There’s really been more of a focus on better collecting student data around exactly how our students identify,” said Lake, who noted that recent surveys have collected more data than ever before about student-parents and LGBTQ+ students — helping advocates to learn more about the hurdles they encounter.
“It’s also the little things like [the vending machines] that are breaking down those barriers and getting students the access to the supports that they need so that they can, in turn, be successful in the classroom,” Lake added.
Fogg said that these two new initiatives “reflect the kind of progress that happens when we listen to the voices of students — especially women, LGBTQ+ folks, and those most often excluded from conversations about health care access.”
“It’s a statement about our commitment to health equity, bodily autonomy, and the right to access essential care without stigma or barriers for all students,” she underlined.
