Poverty Simulation Reveals Struggles Of The Poor
Grand Valley State University Addresses Issues Of Living In Poverty
Feb 21, 2009
The simulation, was sponsored by ACCESS of West Michigan with the help of the GVSU Women’s Center and the campus student organization Hunger and Homelessness. ACCESS is a network of area congregations working together to help meet needs in the community.
Participants entered the room to see clusters of chairs scattered around the room, with each cluster given a family name and a folder with information and stories for each family and family member.
“We only need to open a newspaper to see the massive layoffs and foreclosures; people losing their livelihoods,” said Jo Ann Wassenaar, assistant director of the GVSU Women’s Center.
The would-be families were given necessary items from travel passes and material goods to social security numbers and food. Each family was given a different set of items. The families then simulated four weeks of life in poverty, each lasting 15 minutes, in which they had to travel around and take care of their needs as best they could.
The Needs Began to Add Up
From traveling to the bank to cash a check to going to apply to a job to paying rent, each trip took time and money in the form of a travel pass, which represented bus fare, gasoline for the family car or even walking time. Many families also had small children to either take with them or drop off at day care, which also had its costs.
After every week, families were told to return to their homes and reflect. Did they spend quality time with their children? Did they have time to catch up with a friend over coffee or lunch? Were they all as honest as they were when they began the simulation?
It helped drive home for the participants how little spare time there truly was when someone in poverty tries to make ends meet.
“It was hard to figure out what to do next,” said GVSU professor Debbie Lown. “Once you fell behind, forget it. You can never catch up.”
When the Simulation Ends, the Work Begins
The participant families were then split into two larger groups to discuss what they experienced. Some participants said they needed to resort to selling illegal substances to make extra money to make ends meet. Others saw a house get evicted or even robbed, which compounded the family’s problems.
“People want to assume people living in poverty are lazy,” Wassenaar said. “There is a small percentage, but you’re not going to get rich off minimum wages and no benefits. And sick days are unheard of. And children of the poor often are forced to attend inadequately funded and understaffed schools, if they can go to school at all.”
With the participants humbled by the difficulty of living in poverty, the question became what someone can do to help.
“The poverty simulation was to raise awareness,” Wassenaar said. “Many people are middle-class or upper-class, and have no idea what it would feel like to be in poverty. I consider the simulation ‘Poverty 101.’”
The question is, how can each individual best help the homeless in their community? Wassenaar says it depends on where you are personally, and what you can do and are comfortable doing.
“Once you get a taste of what it would be like, then you need to address it,” she said. “If you’ve never thought about it before, just learning more is great. If you are ready to do more, join an organization that fights for change in policies and fights to make a difference.”
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