Members of the NDSU community will get a glimpse into how a family in poverty navigates the complexities of life. Approximately 65 students, faculty and staff will take part in a poverty simulation experience scheduled for Wednesday, April 1, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union.
During the simulation, participants will role-play the lives of low-income families, from single parents caring for their children to senior citizens trying to maintain self-sufficiency on Social Security. The task of each family is to provide food, shelter and other basic necessities while interacting with various community resources.
Hailey Goplen, NDSU assistant director for service-learning and civic engagement, said the goal is to enable participants to view poverty from different angles and become motivated to be part of the solution to ending poverty in the United States.
“The simulation is a way to put people in others’ shoes,” Goplen said. “The family roles participants take on are based off of actual families that have sought help through community action agencies. Participants will experience real scenarios that real people living in poverty face everyday.”
Participants will be taking on the role of people just below, on or just above the poverty line.
“When you’re just above the poverty line, it’s difficult to get social services but not enough to support a family as you would like to,” Goplen said. “That’s a hard population for many to understand because they are straddling this line.”
Representatives from Southeastern North Dakota Community Action Agency will help facilitate the event. The Dakota Medical Foundation provided a grant to support the program. A team of 20 volunteers from NDSU, FirstLink, the United Way of Cass-Clay, Alerus Financial and Youthworks will run the community resource stations.
For more information, contact Goplen at hailey.goplen@ndsu.edu or 701-231-8566.
As a student-focused, land-grant, research university, we serve our citizens.