On Thursday, October 20, the United Way came to the Badlands Community Facility to facilitate a poverty simulation in Drumheller. High school students gained a new understanding of what it might be like to live in a low-income family trying to make ends meet from month to month.
Over 80 students from St. Anthony’s, Morrin School, and Delia School, as well as many adult volunteers participated in the simulation. Students were assigned roles as members of 26 different families living in low-income situations. Volunteers populated the simulation in roles as service providers, childcare workers, bankers, government employees, police officers and business owners which allowed students the experience of real life obstacles and challenges.
Paul Epp, a St. Anthony’s grade 11 student who played the role of a dad in a family of three, said, “This really opened my eyes to how hectic it can be in a family of at least three people. It was hard even to just get a car and find money to get gas for it. I honestly didn’t know it was that tough just running around to get everything done. So much to do in such a short time. There was no time for anything except trying to make ends meet.”
Bailey Calderon, another St. Anthony’s student, said, “I played the role of a mom with a baby. I realized how difficult it was having a child because you have to bring him everywhere with you. You have to pay for food and clothing. Then I had to put the kid in a care centre so I could work and that costs money. Having a child really puts a lot of responsibility on your plate. And then even being border line in poverty, you have to work hard just to make ends meet. It’s really stressful. Knowing about it now, we can prep for it in the future. We can also be more aware and help out others in that situation.”
The simulation took place over a three-hour time frame. The goal of participants was to provide for basic necessities and housing during four weeks, 15 minutes per week.
Community Service Coordinator, Jodi McIlwraith, who was assigned the role of social worker, said, “At the beginning, the students were really slow going. The second week they started to pick it up and by the fourth week, they were more frantic. As soon as the bell went to say it was a new day, students jumped up and scrambled to get done what they needed. It just showed how desperate and serious they became.”
According to Rose Poulson, head of senior services, Morrin school approached her when they first heard about the simulation and thought it would be a good experience for their high school students. St. Anthony’s and Delia soon followed.
Poulson said, “I was surprised at how engaged the students were. I am really happy to see the young people getting this experience. My hope and goal was that the students would go out and talk about how to address poverty in their community.”
Lori Jack, from the United Way, said the youngest group they had worked with before this was a group of college students. “Drumheller’s simulation by far had the youngest group of students involved. There was enough students combined with a few adult volunteers and teachers to set up numerous families based on real life situations. Each family found different ways to deal with the situations thrown at them.”
At the end of the simulation, everyone broke into small groups to discuss what they experienced. The students explained different things they faced and how they dealt with them. Some students mentioned how they felt alone, helpless and confused while others explained how things got easier when they learned how to work as a family unit to make ends meet.
In Alberta’s struggling economy, poverty is more prevalent than in previous years. In 2015 The Salvation Army in Drumheller gave out 133 food hampers from January to March. In 2016 there were 213 hampers given out during the same period.
According to the United Way, anyone in an economy going through a recession can be affected. On average in a household with two working, if one gets laid off it only takes a few months to get behind financially.
Poulson said, “After the simulation, most of the volunteers and I hope we can move forward and discuss what we can do and how we can make people aware. Next month at the inter-agency meeting several volunteers will be present and we will talk about our experiences at the simulation. We hope to find solutions to help people in our community and ways to raise awareness. It’s all about raising awareness and helping people gain some empathy because in some way we are, or someone we know is, struggling. It’s really important to see it from the other side and gaining that perspective is very powerful.”
According to the United Way, people who don’t have sufficient income to meet basic needs can’t contribute to the local community.
The volunteers of the simulation walked away with a collective desire to find a way to address this in the Drumheller community and to make residents aware. Poulson said everyone at the inter-agency meeting is hoping to find ways to accomplish this in the future and to involve others in the effort to spread awareness.
