Cost of Poverty Experience returns
Julie Kurtz, second from the right, working alongside Michael Hassel, stops at the County Human Services table Tuesday during the United Way of Logan County’s Cost of Poverty Experience at Union Station, 613 Hamilton St. (EXAMINER PHOTOS | MANDY LOEHR)
Also pictured in Thursday’s Examiner: Kim Collum playing a police officer in the Cost of Poverty Experience, speaks Tuesday with Jody VanBuskirk and Justin Gildow so they can file a “police report” about an incident that occurred during the simulation.
Community members from a variety of professions tried on new roles Tuesday morning in the United Way of Logan County’s Cost of Poverty Experience to build empathy, raise awareness and develop solutions to help those struggling with financial instability in the local area.
The role players in the simulation were provided with new characters and various family structures, such as single parents, retired couples with medical issues and extended families with grandparents in the home. They had to complete daily life tasks, such as going to the bank, grocery store, a minimum wage job, school, doctor’s visits, court and probation, county human services, rental office visits etc., with a limited amount of money, time and transportation to get to each location.
As the minutes ticked away on a large screen, participants traveled quickly to booths housed inside the gymnasium at Union Station, 613 Hamilton St. Heart rates surged a bit and participants might have sweated a little, especially when unexpected trouble came their way.
Tracey Burton from the Bellefontaine Joint Recreation District said she filed a “police report” with Kim Collum, cast as a police officer in the simulation, after someone stole a stereo from her valued at $125. The stereo had been represented by a card in her simulation folder.
Read complete story in Thursday’s Examiner.
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