Poverty simulation for future social workers

Future social workers had a chance to experience the lives of people they will soon help through a poverty simulation.The Michigan based Poverty Reduction Initiative held the simulation for students at Western Michigan University.

From the Kalamazoo Gazette, writer Rebecca Bakken attended the simulation.

Five Western Michigan University social-work students were put in the shoes of the fictional poverty-stricken Aber family on Oct. 19.

With one unemployed parent, a pregnant 16-year-old daughter and a nearly drained bank account, the family members had to figure out how to pay their bills, get to work and feed their other two small children, an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, with their limited resources.

The students, along with about 40 other social-work students, were taking part in the Poverty Reduction Initiative’s Poverty Simulation Workshop to see what it is like to be an average family living in poverty.

The students were given packets of information about their new identities and had to make their way through a month of dealing with banks, social services and the police, among other agencies. The students dealt with volunteers playing the roles of people working at such sites.

The students posing as the Abers budgeted as they could with the information given to them. They went to a loan center where they had to take out a $50 loan with a 30 percent interest rate.

When Mrs. Aber was late getting to work because she was getting a transportation pass, her employer put her on probation. Meanwhile, Mr. Aber could get only $25 for a $100 stereo at a pawnshop and was given a notice that he had $500 in outstanding loans from a bank. The Aber children all came home from school that day with school-supply needs, and the family received a malnutrition warning because it had failed to get groceries.

“At the end, some are left in the hole and some maintain,” said Barbara Barton, assistant professor of social work at WMU.

Video: Poverty simulation for teachers in Texas

Teachers in Abilene, Texas experienced a life in being poor through some role playing. Another poverty simulation took place to help teachers gain some insight on what it's like for their students who are poor.

From this video, that we found in the Reporter News, a Curriculum Consultant Valinda Miller explains the simulation.

Poverty simulation for teachers in Des Moines

A poverty simulation was held in the Des Moines, Iowa area to help teachers see the realities of poverty in the community. The simulation focused on what teachers can do to help poor students in their classroom. This only grows in importance as the economy continues to be weak.

From the Des Moines Register, reporter Dave Dolmage shows us the extent of poverty in West Des Moines.

Andréa Boyd, the principal at Phenix Elementary School in West Des Moines, is no stranger to poverty. Located in the Valley Junction area of West Des Moines, more than half the students at Phenix qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

After going through a training course, Boyd wanted to bring the poverty simulation program to her school to help teachers and other administrators understand how poverty affects students, and how teachers can minimize its effects.

"We do it for people to have awareness, but with the economy everyone is aware," Boyd said. "It's a call to action, to see what we can do to help students and families."

Boyd works with Mary Stilwell, the family services coordinator at Phenix, to ensure that the district is doing what it can to help meet the needs of students. Stilwell works to find donations of clothing, and even helps some families find apartments. Boyd said it's easier for family members to talk to Stilwell, rather than speaking to the principal.

"She fulfills a very valuable role, and I think sometimes it's easier for families to go and talk to her," Boyd said of Stilwell.

About to graduate from Iowa State University, Whitney Wilson of West Des Moines is a student teacher who attended the poverty seminar. "It really opened my eyes and helped me see things that I might not have otherwise noticed," Wilson said.

The concept of a family services coordinator at a school was new to us, we wonder if other poor districts have something similar?

Poverty simulations help to show what the poor go through

Poverty simulations are often held here in the states to give those who work for the poor some perspective. Social workers, teachers and others get a peek into the lives of the poor by playing the part of fictional characters who are down on their luck.

In a story filed by Amy Flowers Umble for the Fredericksburg Free Lance Star, the participants of the simulations gave in to stealing, or selling drugs as the simulation progressed.

Participants lived a month in an hour, with each week divided into 15 minutes. They had to navigate the world of pawn shops, payday loans, utility companies, schools, banks, social services, child care, the homeless shelter and the grocery store.


"I felt like I lived my life in a line," said Stephen Batsche, president of Rappahannock United Way.

Others who took part in the simulation said that throughout the fake month, they felt fearful, hopeless, depressed, stressed, frustrated and empty.

Carolyn Saunders, who works at the Thurman Brisben Center and spent her hour as Ben Boling, said she felt "overwhelmed."

Those who volunteered as social service workers, directors of interfaith services and homeless shelters, said they, too, felt frustrated.

"I wanted to give them money out of my own pocket," said Victoria Clark, who portrayed the social services receptionist.

Linell Swader, an eligibility worker for Stafford County's Department of Social Services, said her hour of poverty gave her more empathy for the people who come to her.

That number has tripled in the past month, she said.

Poverty simulation recalls King's vision

from The Ithaca Journal

ITHACA — In the year before his 1968 death, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that “the time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.”

While King did not have the time to pursue that vision, those celebrating his birthday Monday hope to remind others of his goal and help them understand the challenges faced by those living in poverty today. Organizers of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, focusing on creating a “Day On, not a Day Off,” decided the way to do this was by including a poverty simulation as one of their many activities.

“Dr. King strongly believed that it is an individual's responsibility to be involved in their communities,” said Marcia Fort, director of GIAC. “When communities have pockets of people living in poverty, it impacts the entire community. This event encourages people to be thinking, what can and should we be doing to make this a better community for all our community members?”

The poverty simulation is a project of Tompkins Community Action, a local non-profit organization that works to improve the lives of low-income people in the area. First performed as training for the group's staff, some participants quickly realized the simulation's relevance for Monday's celebration.

“Poverty seems like something over the years we haven't really talked about,” said Audrey Cooper, an event organizer and director of the Multicultural Resource Center. “We're able to bring that facet into this celebration. This is a part of Dr. King's work. Poverty affects all colors of people.”

During the simulation, participants will be divided into family units and given a folder with a profile of their family members and finances. They will then go through a month trying to manage work, child care, transportation and food needs while working within the confines of their finances.

“You see people begin to connect with how much money does matter and start to realize that people actually do end up homeless because they can't pay the rent or they're underinsured or the foodstamps don't come through. It gives people a glimpse of what that's like,” Cooper said.

“There is a misconception that people in our community have enough to eat and are having three healthy meals a day. That's not true,” said Marcia Fort, director of GIAC.

During the simulation, other activities will be available, including storytelling by Perry Ground, who specializes in tales of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, people and projects run by The Johnson Museum of Art and the Paleontologial Research Institute. The Green Guerillas group will share footage they've collected related to the issue of honoring King in the city, and there will be performances by the Cavalry Baptist Church choir and the Ithaca Children's choir.

At noon will be a free community lunch in the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School gym, 302 W. Buffalo St., during which United Way of Tompkins County Director James Brown will give a keynote speech. The day begins at 9:30 a.m. at GIAC, 318 N. Albany St.

Poverty in the New Year

from The Prairie Advocate

MT. CARROLL ­ Holiday gifts. Luxury items. Expensive gifts. They may be on the mind of many shoppers, but an educator with the Jo-Carroll Unit of the University of Illinois Extension is thinking about poverty.

Robin Fisch is planning a poverty simulation in February at the First Presbyterian Church in Savanna.

She is looking for volunteers and participants for the event.

"It is designed to bring some sensitivity to those who think they know what poverty is," said Cathe Dixon, local office administrator, Carroll County Family Community Resource Center.

The event will be open to anyone interested in participating. County Board members, school staff and members of the business community could learn from participating, the event's sponsors said.

"Even high school kids would benefit from it," said Dawn Holland, Carroll County Health Department office manager.

Leighton Martz, who works in Dixon's office, recently attended a similar simulation in a neighboring county.

"The sense of helplessness that a lot of our customers feel," is what Martz said he took from the experience. He walked away with the realization that impoverished individuals have no control over their situation. Instead, they are constantly reacting. "It gave me a good sense of their mindset," Martz said.

The volunteers will help staff the simulation, serving as mock representatives of businesses, police departments and banks and utility companies.

Attendees will be assigned a situation and family size as they make their way through their mock life as a poor person.