Code Red was created to bring awareness to the period poverty that affects girls in school all over the world, but especially the US. Many girls from low socioeconomic families don't have the means to buy the supplies they need to take care of their menstrual cycle in a safe and hygienic way.

Women experiencing housing instability are left with the choice between buying menstrual products or providing other necessities for their family, an effect that is amplified when inadequate menstrual management prevents menstruators from going to job interviews, attending school, or taking their children to educational or social programming.