Penn Dental & Temple Podiatry at BSM

November 10, 2016

For the past year a group of dental students from the University of Pennsylvania have been devoting one Saturday per month to come to our Breaking Bread meal to meet with our guests, speak with them about how to take care of their teeth and gums, and in some cases encourage them to see a dentist for follow up care. Recently these students invited another group of students from Temple University’s School of Podiatry to join them. This has been a much-needed service – especially now that the colder weather is here.

The Program regularly serves anywhere from 35-50 guests on each Saturday, with many guests looking forward to the next month’s attendance with positive anticipation. Guests are generally very satisfied with getting their basic needs met through the supplies offered and for the pamphlets that contain information they need to access nearby clinics.

It is not at all uncommon for many of our guests to walk as many as ten or fifteen miles a day. For some, this is because they cannot afford public transportation. For others, and in most cases this applies to our female guests, it is because they walk all night long as protection from potential predators. For them it is safer to do that and sleep where they can during the daytime when there are more people out and about. Learning ways to take proper care of their feet is essential for them.

Thanks to these wonderfully dedicated young professionals on one Saturday each month our guests are taken care of literally from head to toe!

 

 

Written by: Edd Conboy