Simulation shows high cost of being poor
Volunteers faced unemployment, other stressors affecting low-income families
CHESAPEAKE — For a few hours Wednesday, the student center at Tidewater Community College’s Chesapeake campus was chaos. Students and staff zigzagged from table to table, looking for answers to their unexpected problems. It was part of a lesson taught by a poverty simulation led by Virginia Cooperative Extension.
About 50 volunteers briefly experienced what living on a low-income budget feels like, said college spokeswoman Laura Sanford. The college hosted the simulation to raise awareness about basic needs insecurities.
Though the event clocked in at just two hours, when facilitator Karen Munden asked if their experiences were stressful, nearly every hand shot into the air.
“This simulation is everyday life for thousands of community college students,” Munden said. “But it gives everyone a better understanding of what some people have to go through to make it.”
According to a 2015 study by the Wisconsin Hope Lab and the Association of Community College Trustees, about two-thirds of community college students are food insecure, meaning they lack access to nutritionally adequate foods, and about half are housing insecure.
As many as 14 percent of students are homeless, the study said.
During the simulation, most students and staff found themselves in similar situations. Welcome to Realville, as Virginia Cooperative Extension called their makeshift community.
Grouped into families, each participant was given a role to play, money, valuables like jewelry and electronics and cars. Some played adults, others were turned into children.
And as soon as the buzzer signaled their make-believe experiences had begun, they raced off to take care of business.
Armed with a 1-year-old baby doll, TCC adviser Kelsey Warren made her way to the employment line.
“I can’t get a job until I get child care services, so I’m unable to work the entire week,” she said, saying she needed the missed paycheck.
Warren eventually got a job and dropped her newborn off at day care, but when she returned to pick her baby up, he was gone. Police were investigating but had no information on the child’s whereabouts, she said.
Turns out, child protective services picked the baby up, and it could be weeks before Warren sees him again, a social services worker told her.
“I have a 1-year-old at home in real life,” Warren said. “To think about him being taken away for multiple weeks would be terrifying. How is anyone supposed to continue working like that?”
Student Dawn Lambert was lucky enough to have a job during the simulation, but when she went to cash her first check, she found out she owed the bank about $500 on a loan. Her check was just over $300, she said, so the bank would end up taking it all to cover the overdue payment. The bank had already claimed $200 in her savings account, she said.
So it was off to a check-cashing company, where Lambert paid processing fees for quick cash. Utilities were due, she said, and her children needed money for lunch.
Student Kegan Richey played the role of single parent. His pretend children, students Shaelyn Peters and Brandon Goodman, were 14 and 17 years old.
Halfway through the simulation, Richey’s family was evicted from their home. An older woman approached Peters and asked if she’d like to make money by selling drugs. Peters took her up on the offer to help her cash-strapped parent make rent.
Richey ended up tossing the pretend paraphernalia in the trash but said the experience was eye-opening.
“I can see how people would turn to that kind of activity when they’re struggling to get on their feet,” he said. “In the simulation,
“I have a 1-year-old at home in real life. To think about him being taken away for multiple weeks would be terrifying. How is anyone supposed to continue working like that?”
my kids were able to give me money for our mortgage and bus fare.”
Munden is repeating the simulation for Chesapeake city officials next month, and Portsmouth police Lt. Stephen Jenkins said he hopes to have his officers go through it eventually.
“We’re always concerned about our community,” Jenkins said. “I want to be sure we’re being as sensitive as possible to our residents.”
Sanford said in addition to the simulation, the Chesapeake campus will open a food pantry next year, offering healthy foods to students in need. A service project will allow students and volunteers to assemble meals for a hunger relief organization and a 5K race will support TCC’s basic needs initiative.
Kyndra Brown, a developmental education manager, said the simulation made her realize that teachers need to be more understanding.
“We don’t know what these students are going through outside of the classroom,” she said. “We need to be more compassionate.” Poulter can be reached by phone at 757-446-2705.