Soapbox, hosted by WCCA TV Executive Director Mauro DePasquale since 1993, features conversations with community leaders, local businesses, cultural organizations, and more. In this episode, Mauro interviews Kerry Carter, CEO of Hope & Comfort Hygiene Hub. Kerry explains what hygiene insecurity is and why access to basics like soap, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and menstrual products matters for health, dignity, confidence, school, and work. Kerry also discusses the scale of the need in Massachusetts and why hygiene products can be difficult for families to afford, including the fact that they are not covered by programs like SNAP or WIC; how Hope & Comfort works through trusted community organizations across Massachusetts to get products directly to people where they already receive services; the growing need they are seeing, including organizations currently waiting to become Hope & Comfort partners; and how they work to better define and measure hygiene insecurity so the issue can be understood, quantified, and addressed more effectively. hopeandcomfort.org. To be a guest on Soapbox, please email tracy@wccatv.com, and consider supporting WCCA TV with a donation at wccatv.com/donate.
Posted September 29th 2026 3:42pm.