On Nov. 8, the Lewis J. Burger Center for Leadership and Service and Student Activities partnered with Heart of Illinois United Way to host a poverty simulation at Bradley in the Student Center ballroom. Participants were each given a new identity for the evening and had to try to survive a month as a family living in poverty.
The event was led by Stephen Peterson, the vice president of Resource Development at Heart of Illinois United Way. Peterson said that the goal of the simulation was to “hopefully [bring] a better awareness of circumstances that people who are struggling day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month [and] paycheck-to-paycheck go through in hopes that there is more empathy, more compassion and more understanding.”
The simulation began with everyone being assigned an age, ranging from a child in school to an elderly retiree. Adults were given a full-time job, a part-time job or no job. Everyone then sat in groups with their “families,” with each family given sheets containing information about their characters and what monthly expenses their family had.
Around the room, there were services that the families could interact with: utilities, police, a payday loan service, a homeless shelter, childcare services, a bank and other social services.
Children went to school for a portion of every simulated 15-minute long week, and if someone had a job, they went to work. Parents had to figure out transportation to and from their jobs as well as childcare for any kids that they had at home.
In between working and watching their children, parents had to save money to pay all their bills for the month (utility, housing, student loans, food, clothing, credit card payments and auto loans). If a family failed to pay a utility bill, their service would be shut off and they would have to pay a fine to get it turned back on. If a family missed a housing payment, they would be evicted and would have to move to the homeless shelter.
Some families would be the victims of crimes like robberies. One family had all of their possessions stolen twice.
After the simulation, the participants were put into groups to discuss what they experienced.
Amelia Kettle, a junior public health education major, participated in the simulation for a class, but she was also interested in the subject.
“I thought it was very insightful and it brought together a lot of different perspectives, which was important,” Kettle said. “The discussion afterwards also brought up a lot of points that I was unable to see from my family’s perspective.”
Many of the participants did not end up using the social services that were scattered around the room during the simulation because they were not aware that they existed or how they could help them.
According to Heart of Illinois United Way, this is realistic for families who actually find themselves in poverty. When Washington, Illinois was struck by a tornado in 2013, many families who had never thought about needing to use social services suddenly found themselves without a home or possessions. Part of Heart of Illinois United Way’s mission is to spread awareness of the services they offer to help provide basic necessities.
Anaka Meredith, a senior nursing major, also attended the program for a class.
“I think that [the program] was a really good reality check of everything that a lot of people struggle with and go through,” Meredith said. “It’s kind of scary being a senior and having to possibly deal with something like this and possibly living paycheck to paycheck because of student loans.”
According to Heart of Illinois United Way, one in three people living in Central Illinois use a program they fund. Those programs include services to help people get basic needs such as food, shelter, education and financial stability.
Heart of Illinois United Way emphasized the 2-1-1 service, which lets people talk to someone 24/7 about non-emergency social issues. It is free and confidential and gets people connected to these services.
