College students often complain about being poor. Eating Kraft Easy Mac and not having a car can be bothersome, but ISU students will be given the chance Wednesday to experience what true poverty is really like.

A poverty simulation, hosted by the family and consumer sciences program extensions, will be held in MacKay Auditorium at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

“This is actually a program we purchased over 10 years ago from an organization called ROW, which stands for the Reform Organization of Welfare. They were a non-profit, educational advocacy group in St. Louis, Mo.,” said Diana Broshar, coordinator of the poverty simulation.

Iowa State has conducted a few poverty simulations over the years for staff development, and thought they were beneficial enough to open up for students, Broshar said.

She said the simulation is a three-hour event, where students role-play as individuals from low-income families.

In the simulation, the students are assigned randomly to a family and are given all necessary information about their family.

“[The students] run through a packet of materials, which gives them their family profiles, identification pieces, some household possessions,” Broshar said.

“It tells them about their situation. Then they live a month in poverty that’s divided into four 15-minute periods. Each of those 15 minutes represents a week.”

During the weeks, the simulators will interact with community resources around the room such as the welfare office, the bank, the landlord and the school to see how poor people deal with these particular places, said Broshar.

Penny Bisignano, lecturer in educational leadership and policy studies, has participated in many poverty simulations and recommended ISU families try it. She said she plans on bringing her class to the simulation.

“I liked the fact that it was an event that allowed the participants to experience what it’s like to go periods of time in poverty,” Bisignano said.

She said she was overwhelmed with how it doesn’t take much to send a person living in poverty into a downward spiral.

“The one thing that was just overwhelming to me was just how much they depend on transportation, getting from one place to another,” Bisignano said.

“When you’re living in poverty, the only thing that can throw you into chaos is for something to happen to that car or transportation. If that transportation stops working, you have a huge problem, especially in Iowa.”

Janeann Stout, associate dean of human sciences and director of the extension programs, said the simulation has had a powerful effect on many people. She said they try to staff the simulation with people who are trying to work their way out of poverty.

“I think it’s important for people to understand that a lot of the families that are living in poverty are working very hard to get out of it, but it is very difficult,” Stout said. “Circumstances can change for any individual.”

There is a charge of $17.50 to get in. Broshar said the money goes to copyright fees, childcare, payment to the people helping the impoverished, and replenishment of supplies.

Treatment of poor people reflects who we are as individuals and what our values are, Stout said. She said she hopes people walk away wanting to take action on the issue.

“I think most people walk away with an appreciation of the trouble that people with reduced resources have to deal with on a regular basis,” she said.

“Also, the individuals that participate try to apply it to their particular responsibilities that they have at their work and personal life. In doing that, they come up with wonderful ways of making people around them a little bit better.”