Wayne State College to Participate in 2008 Poverty Solutions Tour

WAYNE, Neb. -- Wayne State College will host a Poverty Simulation as a part of the Community Action in Nebraska 2008 Poverty Solutions Tour. The Poverty Simulation will run from 9:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 7 in the WSC Frey Conference Suite in the Student Center.

WSC Students who participate in the poverty simulation will role-play the lives of low-income families, from single parents trying to care for their children to senior citizens trying to maintain self sufficiency. Participants will be given the task to provide food, shelter and other basic necessities for their family during the simulation while interacting with various community resources.

Although it uses "play" money and other props, fictional scenarios, and time limits, the poverty simulation is not a game. After students participate in the poverty simulation, a discussion will be held to reframe and refocus work in Nebraska to reduce poverty.

The Poverty Solutions Tour is in year two of a three-year process to discuss the causes, conditions, and solutions to poverty at the local level. The tour stems from a national report called "Rooting out Poverty" which included the input of nearly 1,000 community action leaders and supporters at the National Symposium on Poverty and Economic Security in Bethesda, Md. The report concluded that the economic security and the lives of low-income people can be improved through thoughtful, cost-effective strategies.

"Rooting out Poverty offers strategies for solutions to reduce poverty, designed to educate and inform every American that the poverty epidemic is intolerable -- and correctable," said Mary Beth Rathe, Executive Director at the Community Action of Nebraska state association office in Lincoln. "The report calls for common-sense solutions to the concerns communities face regarding poverty. The goal is to build a community that works for everyone."