Frenzy

10.1%: The unemployment rate in Ohio in September 2009 (ODJFS Press Release)

The last day of In-Service Training is tomorrow! The conference has been really interesting so far, and today was the infamous Community Action Poverty Simulation. I heard about this simulation months ago and have been looking forward to it ever since.

About 5o VISTAs, maybe more, gathered into a large conference room this morning and were each given a new identity. I was to play the role of Cindy Chen, a 39-year-old woman with a husband and three children (a 16-year-old who was two months pregnant played by a VISTA, a 10-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy, each of whom were played by baby dolls).

The middle of the room was filled with small circles of chairs with each family's name on it, with one chair per family member. We were given large plastic envelopes containing some instructions, social security cards, one work ID card, a few resources and their worthn(cards that said MICROWAVE, TELEVISION, STEREO, and REFRIGERATOR, all valued at $100) and 6 transportation passes.

We would need these transportation passes to go to any resources in the room. Each pass, worth $1, represented a bus ticket, gasoline for the car, or the time and energy it takes to walk somewhere. Along the walls were moderator-run booths: Community Action, General Employer, Quik Cash & Transportation Passes, Interfaith Services/Homeless shelter, Child Care Center, Public School, Social Services, Mortgage & Realty/Utilities, Grocery Store, Juvenile Hall, Jail, Police Department and a Pawn Shop. There was another moderator (Sarah Brady), who played the role of the criminal, and stalked around the room trying to persuade people to buy or sell drugs. She also stole any money and resources people forgot to bring with them.

To make things even more interesting, yet another moderator (Dustin Speakman), strolled around handing out good fortune/bad fortune cards, to give us an idea of those little surprises that can come up in everyday life.

The hour and a half allotted for this simulation was broken up into four sets of 12 minutes, with small breaks inbetween each session. Twelve minutes represented one week in the life of a family living in poverty.

My family, the Chen family, started off okay. I was a full-time employee at the hospital as a receptionist, though my husband, Charles, had just been laid off from his job. Our 16-year-old pregnant daughter, Connie (I think that was her name), was irresponsible and would rather spend time with her boyfriend Franco Fuentes than watch over her younger siblings. But on the first day, I took our transportation passes to my job while the kids went off to school and the husband asked our neighbors if they had absolutely anything to spare.

The first day of work, which was spent sitting in a designated area reading about poverty, lasted about five minutes, then we each received our first week's pay. I went right next door to the bank, where a very long line was forming, so I could cash the check and buy more transportation passes. Unfortunately, the week ended before the line did, and I was forced to return home empty-handed, only to learn that our 16-year-old daughter had been suspended from school.

As SOON as week 2 began, I literally ran across the room to the bank and was forced to wait in another long line. By the time I had cashed my check and purchased 20 more transportation passes, my shift at work had ended, and I lost my job.

To make matters worse, my husband Charles had been dealt a "bad luck" card and had all of our money stolen.

Things pretty much went downhill from there.

Every VISTA in the room was in a frantic frenzy. Our family had no hope of paying off any of our bills, so we desperately went from Interfaith to Social Services to Community Action. We were able to acquire an Electronic Benefits Card (for food stamps) from Social Services, as well as a a voucher for clothes from Interfaith. I almost laughed when I went to Community Action and received $10 and a voucher for $30 off my $150 utility bill. It just wasn't enough for anything.

The only thing we were really able to do was buy food for the first three and a half weeks. By the end of the simulation, more than half of the chairs in the room had been turned upside down, symbolizing that those families had been evicted for not paying their mortgage. The homeless shelter was completely full and were turning people away. Our daughter got herself stuck in prison for stealing money to bail out her boyfriend. Other families had resorted to stealing from one another and accepting jobs as drug dealers. Everyone was so panicked and rushed, and there was just too much to keep track of. The criminal in the scenario (Sarah Brady) said she even stole someone's baby in the second week, and no one even noticed.

It was such an eye-opener. There are a lot of resources available for low-income people, but is it really ever enough? We can help someone get food stamps or medical coverage, but is that going to help them pay for their car or their home when they have no other income?

Poverty is a huge problem, and it's not one that can be solved with temporary solutions. In one of my sessions yesterday, Bridges Out of Poverty, we were told that wealthy people think more about their history, their past, and their traditions. Middle class people focus more on their futures, and what they can do to get ahead. But for people living in poverty, every day is a struggle. They live entirely in the present, because their most basic needs don't come as easily to those who are more fortunate.

I feel like I understand that better now. I was so frustrated during the simulation. By the end of week two I felt awful with myself, exhausted, and ready to give up. I was happy to get $5 for our $100 microwave at the pawn shop. It is hard to imagine living like that every day. And it can happen to anyone.