Dear Rotarians and friends,
Thank you to all of the Rotarians and friends who joined the Keystone Opportunity Poverty Simulation last Thursday night and to Janet Pesini and the Franconia Heritage Restaurant for the flexible use of their space. It was Keystone’s first run of many with the simulation and it seemed to go extremely well.
Thank you to all of the Rotarians and friends who joined the Keystone Opportunity Poverty Simulation last Thursday night and to Janet Pesini and the Franconia Heritage Restaurant for the flexible use of their space. It was Keystone’s first run of many with the simulation and it seemed to go extremely well.
The Simulation began with Executive Director and Rotarian, Brandon Trombetta, providing some brief instructions and assigning roles as family members living in poverty to attendees. I played a mother of two teenage children following the desertion of my husband who left us with $10, no job, no bank account and $1800 in bills each month. We immediately dropped into survival mode and although I strongly believe in the importance of education, I was thankful that my teenage son (Kelli Scarlett's son, Sage) dropped out of school to help the family by finding a job and splitting household errands like going to the grocery store and visiting social services. Just figuring out where to go and what their hours were and how long the lines were in each place was such a challenge.
I would have let my teenage daughter get at least a part-time job too, but she was called away for another meeting, so we treated it as a death in the family. We also seriously discussed ways we might steal funds and cut corners to get by. It seemed completely justifiable in the midst of all of the chaos, but we were deterred by the roving police (Sarah Bergin) presence.
Since we made so little, I quickly signed up for a second job in an attempt to make enough to keep our heads above water for at least a little while. It looked like we might be successful, but then had trouble cashing our checks because we had no account at the bank and the quick cash center ran out of money. In the end we had not paid a single bill and were evicted from our apartment.
It reminded me of the difficulties I had paying for college. The stress was overwhelming but thoughts of the job I might get after I graduated kept me going. I took extra classes every semester and through the summers so that I could finish in 3 years. I was dating someone at the time who had even more financial challenges than I did and I was helping him pay for college too. I was attending a church that strongly emphasized tithing 10% of what you made and I took that very seriously and complied as much as possible. Once I graduated, I held two jobs for a few years so that I could pay off student loans. I was so relieved once that was finished. Going through the Simulation made me think about what it might be like if there was no better job or end in sight to the stress of not being able to provide for my family. If we truly became homeless, how would we ever pull ourselves out of it?
Looking back at my college experience, there were so many things I could have done better that would have reduced the stress, but I couldn’t see any good options while I was in the midst of it all. Brandon explained how important Keystone’s role is in helping to guide people who find themselves living in poverty to see a better future and work towards it. I can see the benefit of having someone not living in crisis providing that guidance, but I can also imagine that it would be hard for people living in crisis to follow the plans laid out for them, especially if the reward of a better life would be many years in the future.
All in all, I think Keystone’s Poverty Simulation is a great tool to improve awareness and understanding as STRC considers ways to serve our community and the world. It was beautiful to see STRC members along with Keystone Opportunity Center board members and staff together with teachers, students and friends in one place and imagine the possibilities if we all work together.
In Rotary
Kate
