The hard reality of poverty will be hitting some ISU students.

The Rowel Poverty Simulation is an educational program sponsored by ISU Extension to give participants an opportunity to experience living in poverty.

“The simulation challenges people’s stereotypes about people living in poverty,” said Diana Broshar, ISU Extension program specialist. “It also increases people’s awareness of poverty.”

The poverty simulation program was created in 1980 by the Reform Organization of Welfare Education Association of Missouri, where Rowel is located. It was first conducted at Iowa State in 1995 for ISU Extension staff.

Broshar said that after the simulation Extension staff felt there was a need for people to understand poverty issues, and the simulation could help do this in local communities.

During the program, participants assume the roles of families living in poverty. Broshar said participants are broken into different groups, then given different family scenarios and instructed to interact with each other and different members in the community.

“Some possible family scenarios might include an elderly couple, a husband and wife with children, or a single mother with children,” she said.

Community members are played by people who have had experience living in poverty or by ISU Extension staff.

“We try to staff the simulation with many people who have had personal experiences living in poverty,” Broshar said.

Participants also experience the “buck and a half meal” eating restrictions when living in poverty during the simulation.

“The buck and a half meal allows participants to experience first hand the daily decisions people make with limited financial resources based on the USDA’s thrifty meal plan,” Broshar said.

Each participant is given $1.50 in play money, which represents the amount of money a low-income family spends per person on a meal. Broshar said participants are then allowed to select food from a menu with prices no more than $1.50.

Lorrie Long, adjunct instructor in the human development and family studies department, plans on participating in the simulation and hopes it will give her a glimpse of what people living in poverty go through.

“I think we are protected and don’t know what it is like to be in poverty,” she said. “I am interested in learning what life is like in the real world for people who are in poverty.”

The simulation will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 10 in 117 MacKay Hall.

Registration is $8 per person and $4 for students. Participants must register for the simulation beforehand, and the registration deadline is April 4.

For more information about registration or the simulation, contact Diana Broshar at 294-8204 or at [email protected].