What do you prioritise?

Homelessness

I was watching TV the other day. An advert, frequently more interesting than the programmes we watch, stood out. At least for me. It was an advert about Colgate, that oral health care brand. Colgate has teamed up with Change Please Coffee an entrepreneurial organisation; a charity that seeks to reduce homelessness by selling great coffee.

A bus fitted with a mobile dental service on board drives around London 3 days a week to help the homeless manage their oral health care. London today. The UK tomorrow. Let’s hope it keeps going.

That advert, I saw for only a few seconds, prompted me to write a poem.

What do you prioritise?

What do you prioritise
When you’re homeless?
Staying warm?
Staving off hunger?
Keeping clean?
Oral health is probably way down your list.

No toothbrush and toothpaste stored neatly in a holder on a bathroom shelf.
Waiting patiently to be used.
No floss.
No mouthwash.

It’s a struggle to keep from starving to death.
Freezing to death.
And many do.
No wonder oral care is so low down the pecking order.
But it’s important; oral care.
No! It’s essential.

Teach your children this year about homelessness.
Give one less Christmas present.
One less birthday.
I promise you; they won’t notice.

Instead donate that money to a homeless charity.
Help feed the homeless on Christmas Day.
Not just for one day; but every day.
Help make the suffering a thing of the past.
Help eliminate homelessness from our future.
Give the homeless hope.

In 2019, private renters, according to the charity Shelter, could not afford to pay their rent for more than a month if they lost their job.

How does that make you feel?