A local community action program will again be putting state representatives in the shoes of low-income families through Walk a Mile, a poverty advocacy program running through September.

The program places state representatives with a willing low-income area family for a month. Representatives and their families learn what it’s like to live at the poverty level by sustaining themselves on the equivalent income of a low-income family. A family of four would receive $518 in food aid every month.

Dave DeValois, public information coordinator for Mid-Iowa Community Action, said the Walk a Mile program was developed by University of Washington alumna Natasha Grossman, who now works with the Northwest Institute for Children and Families and is Walk a Mile program manager.

According to the MICA Web site, www.micaonline.org, the agency provides low-income families with food assistance, prenatal and postpartum care, immunizations, health screenings, basic dental care, information on insurance options, HIV/AIDS support and assistance in locating medical homes.

This year, Walk a Mile will match State Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell with Tammy Stuart of Ames, State Rep. Lisa Heddens and Ida Nady of Nevada, State Rep. Dave Deyoe and a Nevada family, State Rep. Mark Smith and Christy Arends of Marshalltown and State Rep. Eric Palmer and Teena Davis of Oskaloosa.

“I think the biggest achievement of this program is that both people involved learn about [each other’s] places,” DeValois said. “Even people who are sensitive to poverty issues learn something.”

Wessel-Kroeschell, who participated in the program in 2005, said the program is extremely beneficial to both parties.

“I think that it is a challenge, no matter what. I couldn’t imagine trying to figure out how to do this, month-in and month-out,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “I can’t imagine having a child who is scared about where the food will come from. For a mother, there is nothing scarier.”

Activities planned for the month include visiting a women’s, infants’ and children’s clinic, visiting a welfare office, going to a MICA children’s dental office and going to a MICA Head Start program. Wessel-Kroeschel said at the end of the month there will be a panel on “what we learned,” when the representatives and families will finally meet.

“You grow in a lot of different ways. I think that it is important to have a face on poverty. Sometimes it’s hard to know how close some people are to poverty,” Wessel-Kroeschell said.