Mulling over whether to pawn her wedding ring for cash, "Emily Epperman," 30, sifted through her meager assets Monday afternoon.
Trying to manage two troublesome teenaged children, one struggling with drugs, and raise money for food stretched Epperman's patience and ingenuity during Monday afternoon's Poverty Simulation seminar. Sommer Grant, an employee of Cherryland Electric Co-op, portrayed Epperman during the second session of the Poverty Simulation Workshop.
Held at the First Congregational Church, the event drew 103 community members who lived through four ten-minute weeks as a person in poverty. They struggled to feed their families, obtain a "Bridge Over Troubled Water" card, pay bills, find housing and move around "town" — which was the church's Fellowship Hall.
"I hear this all the time but it's definitely interesting to experience it," said Stephanie Dommer, an employee of the Coalition Health Access Program attending the afternoon workshop. "It's definitely been an eye-opening experience."
Managing the anxiety and seemingly endless brick walls encountered while trying to accomplish tasks were also enlightening for participants.
"You learn how frustrating it is going through this situation," said Renee Louvierre Mitchell, a volunteer coordinator for the Northern Michigan Alliance for Independent Living who participated in the morning workshop. "I found where I could see gaps in services and looked for any way to fill them."
The Poverty Reduction Initiative sponsored the workshops, which were facilitated by staff from the Michigan State University Extension office in Newyago County. The event's mission was to raise awareness of the obstacles and challenges facing poor individuals and families.
"This is just a tool that simulates poverty, they put a lot of work into it so that it is realistic," said Claudette Byers of MSU Extension in Newyago County, who led the event and has navigated the public assistance maze three times in her life. "For four weeks, we're going to experience lines, not being able to get your business done."
Stations lining the perimeter of the Fellowship Hall held volunteers portraying everyone from Department of Human Services employees, a school teacher, pawn shop owners, food bank volunteers, bank employees, grocery store managers and utility employees.
Participants were plagued by lack of proper identification and transportation, short hours at agencies and businesses, surly employees and too much to do in too little time.
"It was very, very helpful in terms of experiencing the everyday chaos that most of us never have been exposed to," said Tom Emling, an employee of Michigan State University working in community partners, who portrayed an 82-year-old grandmother.
In the scenario, Emling had a sick, frail husband to care for and a stack of errands to run to keep the household going. Just getting out the door was a problem because of the husband's health problems and their lack of transportation. When the couple finally reached the bank to get money, their ID was insufficient. Later in the scenario, they were robbed.
"We didn't even have the basic elements of transportation," he noted, adding of the workshop: "This was wonderful, can we do this workshop for the public in our immediate five-county area?"
The mission of the Poverty Reduction Initiative, a collaborative community effort, is to reduce poverty by 25 percent in the region by 2010. Founded in 2004, the group has held periodic Saturday Special events covering topics ranging from nutrition to finance to taxes. Members include local businesses, human service agencies and citizens, who work together to reduce poverty.
The Poverty Reduction Initiative will hold another Saturday Special event with a Job Survivor theme on Saturday, November 4, at the TBA-ISD Career Tech Center from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. For more information or to register by the October 27 deadline, call 922-3754. For more information about the Poverty Reduction Initiative, see the website www.traversebayPRI.org.