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Workshop focuses on poverty struggles
Representatives from area organizations attended an interactive workshop Wednesday morning to get a better idea of what it is like to live below the poverty line.
The "Poverty Experience" was hosted by St. Vincent Clay Hospital. Hospital administrator Jerry Laue said each booth set up in the Area 30 Career Center was run by a hospital employee, aside from one volunteer.
Laue explained the purpose of the forum is for each "family," predetermined by a packet of information in the group, had to utilize food stamps, TANF funds and selling the items in their home to pay rent, buy groceries, provide transportation for all family members and hopefully find employment.
"Right now, it seems like a silly game. But, the reality is people slide into these situations and it's hard to slide back out. Most people take their resources for granted. Participants laugh because they are uncomfortable, but the reality of the situation sets in," Laue explained while the faux families navigated their way from booth to booth.
Some families consisted of a single mother of two young children, while others had up to four children including teenagers.
The hands-on experience lasted one hour, representing a month. Every 15 minutes, a new week began and the parents in each family had to start over on groceries and deciding which bills to pay.
Each member of the family had to have a transportation card before moving to the next booth, representing the cost of fuel or taking the bus. The bank would not cash a check without a certain amount of funds to open a new account.
When asking for financial help, a significant amount of paperwork had to be filed before even seeing a case worker. At the pawn shop, the representative would only pay a portion of the item's actual value.
A makeshift police officer scanned the room for young children "left at home," and served as a truancy officer citing parents who were not sending their children to school.
At the end of the forum, participants explained how the event impacted them. Some said it hit on a personal level, and others explained how it hit them on a professional level.
Tanis Monday serves as the executive director of Beyond Homeless Inc, a local homeless shelter. She said she found herself telling a story about why she was at each booth and why she needed help.
"Usually, I'm on the other side of the desk listening," Monday said, noting she has a better understanding of why people fall short of filing paperwork on time and finding a job in a timely fashion.
Tiffany FitzPatrick, with the Putnam County CASA program, said she found herself feeling guilty needing to visit the mock food pantry more than one week in the month.
Another participant said she was quick to invest in the help of the children in the family to help by finding a job or providing childcare.
Laue explained St. Vincent Hospital is dedicated to their social responsibility and the poverty forum is an interesting, educational way to teach people more about the people they work with.
The administrator said the hospital works with food-based grants, and people often ask what that has to do with their scope of care. He explained if people are not properly fed, their health would suffer as well.
The hospital has hosted about 15 of the poverty forums in the last nine years. Laue said he would like to host more, but the preparation and use of staff limits what they are able to do.
The workshop was part of the Youth Worker Cafe series presented by the Indiana Youth Institute. Sponsors for the event included Children's Bureau, United Way of Putnam County, Putnam County Youth Development Commission, Mental Health America of Putnam County and Putnam County Family Support Services.