Too many bills and too little income
Seminar offers a lesson in poverty
By DONNA HICKMAN
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
The number of people living in poverty in St. Francois County grew by 42 for a short time Wednesday. Elected officials, candidates for office, business people and others took part in a Poverty Simulation sponsored by East Missouri Action Agency. They came to Harvest Christian Centre to spend two hours trying to understand what it’s like to have too many bills and too little income.
“Thirteen percent of people in America are low income,” said Cat Leonard, EMAA. “But in St. Francois County, 17 percent live in poverty — those figures are from the 2000 census and it is even higher now.”
So, the participants were assigned to family groups and given packets of information that told them who they represented, what possessions they owned, what bills they owed and how much money they made. Around the room, volunteers and EMAA workers posed as members of the community who operated such things as a grocery store, an employment service, state agencies, community action services, a bank, schools and daycare. Every 15 minutes represented a week and the participants were to live four weeks trying to make ends meet as if they were a low income family.
Diane Waller, who works for Family Support, Kayla Botkin, from Ben Noir Apartments, Mary Taylor of the St. Francois County Community Partnership and Eileen Wright of Ben Noir represented a divorced dad with three kids. Wright played the dad with a packet that said the dad had a job, but one child had to go to daycare and the other two were in school. So, at the sound of a whistle, Week 1 began and Wright took her kids to school. She discovered her child could not go to daycare until she went to the Department of Family Services. But first, she had to go to her employer.
“You have to go to your job and tell them the situation that you have to get daycare before you can come to work,” explained Shanna Ashton, EMAA. “It’s all about communication.”
County Clerk Mark Hedrick lived the life of an 85-year-old woman who cashed her assistance check and went to the bank to make payments on a loan. “She” got no receipt, so she could not prove she paid it.
“Kids” skipped school. Some were enticed to sell drugs. Some got sick. Working parents lost cars when they couldn’t make their payments and they lost jobs when they couldn’t get to work. They pawned their TV sets for money to pay the rent.
Dawn Cross played the role of a Quick Cash business owner where some of the families went for help, but in real life, she’s lived in poverty.
“I have lived that life and brought myself out of it and now I work for EMAA,” she explained. “We are seeing so many working families who need help. Many of them work two jobs, but they can’t get by.”
Volunteer Charlotte King said she came to St. Francois County a year ago to escape domestic abuse. She lived first at a shelter and now lives on her own with her two children. She said finding the help she needed wasn’t easy.
“You have to learn to budget and to look out for different forms of assistance you can get,” she said. “You have to get out there and ask questions and search for yourself.”
A man who showed up at work was let go because, as fake boss Ellen Masulit told him, “You’re late! You know you’re on probation. I’m sorry. We are going to have to let you go.”
Christine Richards, Department of Social Services, played a frazzled mom with hungry children. Her “family” spent the entire second week just sitting while the children complained and Richards wondered what to do next.
Every now and then, there would be calls for “Police!” and “officer” Carma Labbee would arrest a thief or a man with a gun who turned desperate for help. She’d take a wayward child into custody because its “parent” had not been able to feed it. Pam Perry of Shared Blessings was “jailed” for two weeks on drug charges.
“It’s fun for us to do this, but in real life, this is no fun,” she said. “I deal with this all the time and it’s so hard. I refer people for the services we are learning about today.”
Lisa Pirtle works for the Family Support Division and as the pretend people in poverty came to apply for help, they couldn’t provide all the documents they needed. Pirtle said it’s that way in the real world, too.
“Depending upon the type of assistance they’re seeking, they may need a birth certificate or something like that and they’ve lost it in a move or something and they may have no idea how to get another one,” she explained. “There’s a lot of paperwork.”
It seemed like chaos — with so many people in need and so few to help them. Cross said that frustration can make it hard for people in crisis to come up with a plan.
“They may not be thinking rationally and they may not be able to figure out what they should do next,” she said. The EMAA workers quoted Dr. Donna Beegle who spoke to them about poverty earlier this week and said, “People in crisis don’t really look to tomorrow when they are trying to get through today.”
By week 3, Wright said, “We’re not getting much of anything done. So far, everyone I’ve talked to, I get the runaround. I haven’t been able to pay a bill.”
The least visited table may have been the one that could have helped the most — the Community Action table where EMAA would have offered assistance.
By the end of week 3, frustrated with the paperwork and the runaround, many participants just sat down in frustration. By Week 4, the landlord started evicting families who hadn’t paid their rent. Of the nine families represented in the simulation, four lost their places to live, including the family Wright led. Hedrick said his character still had a home, but utilities had been cut off for lack of payment.
One participant said, “I have learned there are roadblocks everywhere in this process that people have to cross in order to survive. This has been very eye-opening for me.”
Leonard said the goal of the simulation is to promote a different attitude toward low income families and the struggles they have every day. EMAA will host another simulation Sept. 16 in Iron County. Anyone may participate by calling Leonard at 573-431-0103.
At the end of the one Wednesday, she made an appeal for people to volunteer to help EMAA provide services to those who need them, either offering their time, their money or a program to teach skills like budgeting.
Donna Hickman is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact her at 431-2010, ext. 138 or at dhickman@dailyjournalonline.com.
“Thirteen percent of people in America are low income,” said Cat Leonard, EMAA. “But in St. Francois County, 17 percent live in poverty — those figures are from the 2000 census and it is even higher now.”
So, the participants were assigned to family groups and given packets of information that told them who they represented, what possessions they owned, what bills they owed and how much money they made. Around the room, volunteers and EMAA workers posed as members of the community who operated such things as a grocery store, an employment service, state agencies, community action services, a bank, schools and daycare. Every 15 minutes represented a week and the participants were to live four weeks trying to make ends meet as if they were a low income family.
Diane Waller, who works for Family Support, Kayla Botkin, from Ben Noir Apartments, Mary Taylor of the St. Francois County Community Partnership and Eileen Wright of Ben Noir represented a divorced dad with three kids. Wright played the dad with a packet that said the dad had a job, but one child had to go to daycare and the other two were in school. So, at the sound of a whistle, Week 1 began and Wright took her kids to school. She discovered her child could not go to daycare until she went to the Department of Family Services. But first, she had to go to her employer.
“You have to go to your job and tell them the situation that you have to get daycare before you can come to work,” explained Shanna Ashton, EMAA. “It’s all about communication.”
County Clerk Mark Hedrick lived the life of an 85-year-old woman who cashed her assistance check and went to the bank to make payments on a loan. “She” got no receipt, so she could not prove she paid it.
“Kids” skipped school. Some were enticed to sell drugs. Some got sick. Working parents lost cars when they couldn’t make their payments and they lost jobs when they couldn’t get to work. They pawned their TV sets for money to pay the rent.
Dawn Cross played the role of a Quick Cash business owner where some of the families went for help, but in real life, she’s lived in poverty.
“I have lived that life and brought myself out of it and now I work for EMAA,” she explained. “We are seeing so many working families who need help. Many of them work two jobs, but they can’t get by.”
Volunteer Charlotte King said she came to St. Francois County a year ago to escape domestic abuse. She lived first at a shelter and now lives on her own with her two children. She said finding the help she needed wasn’t easy.
“You have to learn to budget and to look out for different forms of assistance you can get,” she said. “You have to get out there and ask questions and search for yourself.”
A man who showed up at work was let go because, as fake boss Ellen Masulit told him, “You’re late! You know you’re on probation. I’m sorry. We are going to have to let you go.”
Christine Richards, Department of Social Services, played a frazzled mom with hungry children. Her “family” spent the entire second week just sitting while the children complained and Richards wondered what to do next.
Every now and then, there would be calls for “Police!” and “officer” Carma Labbee would arrest a thief or a man with a gun who turned desperate for help. She’d take a wayward child into custody because its “parent” had not been able to feed it. Pam Perry of Shared Blessings was “jailed” for two weeks on drug charges.
“It’s fun for us to do this, but in real life, this is no fun,” she said. “I deal with this all the time and it’s so hard. I refer people for the services we are learning about today.”
Lisa Pirtle works for the Family Support Division and as the pretend people in poverty came to apply for help, they couldn’t provide all the documents they needed. Pirtle said it’s that way in the real world, too.
“Depending upon the type of assistance they’re seeking, they may need a birth certificate or something like that and they’ve lost it in a move or something and they may have no idea how to get another one,” she explained. “There’s a lot of paperwork.”
It seemed like chaos — with so many people in need and so few to help them. Cross said that frustration can make it hard for people in crisis to come up with a plan.
“They may not be thinking rationally and they may not be able to figure out what they should do next,” she said. The EMAA workers quoted Dr. Donna Beegle who spoke to them about poverty earlier this week and said, “People in crisis don’t really look to tomorrow when they are trying to get through today.”
By week 3, Wright said, “We’re not getting much of anything done. So far, everyone I’ve talked to, I get the runaround. I haven’t been able to pay a bill.”
The least visited table may have been the one that could have helped the most — the Community Action table where EMAA would have offered assistance.
By the end of week 3, frustrated with the paperwork and the runaround, many participants just sat down in frustration. By Week 4, the landlord started evicting families who hadn’t paid their rent. Of the nine families represented in the simulation, four lost their places to live, including the family Wright led. Hedrick said his character still had a home, but utilities had been cut off for lack of payment.
One participant said, “I have learned there are roadblocks everywhere in this process that people have to cross in order to survive. This has been very eye-opening for me.”
Leonard said the goal of the simulation is to promote a different attitude toward low income families and the struggles they have every day. EMAA will host another simulation Sept. 16 in Iron County. Anyone may participate by calling Leonard at 573-431-0103.
At the end of the one Wednesday, she made an appeal for people to volunteer to help EMAA provide services to those who need them, either offering their time, their money or a program to teach skills like budgeting.
Donna Hickman is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact her at 431-2010, ext. 138 or at dhickman@dailyjournalonline.com.
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Reader Comments (5)The comments below are from readers and do not represent the views of the Daily Journal
Democrat Lady posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
123456, it seems your story is much like every citizen I talk to. What a shame, our elected officials, McBush, has let it come to this. McCain said if you make less than $500,000. a year, you are considered Middle Class. Well, you know what, I guess we are considered HOMELESS!!!! My God, people go out and Vote!
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Keri posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
k2w33830
I encourage you to contact our local office to see if there is some type of assistance to help you. If you only make $20,000 per year for a family of four you definitely qualify for some services.
I encourage you to contact our local office to see if there is some type of assistance to help you. If you only make $20,000 per year for a family of four you definitely qualify for some services.
123456 posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 3:16 pm
It is difficult economic times for even the middle class. I work in the healthcare field, I have a good job, I went to college, I am a single parent putting an 18 year old son thru college alone, thank God for federal pell grants,, I drive an old car with 200,000 miles on it, I have no health insurance, can't afford to buy any, work does not provide it, no insurance company would insure me anyway due to pre-existing diseases. The poor are getting poorer,, the middle class is dwindling away,,, but the rich are getting richer.
k2w22830 posted on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I live this in real life....we are using this weeks check to catch up last weeks bills....so we are always going to be behind 1 or 2 weeks....it makes a difference when you are facing turn-offs or evictions.And no we are always told we make to much to get help even though we are below the nations guide lines of poverty(20,000.00/year:4 family members) we want to be able to pay our bills too but sometimes we can't, yes you are looked down on when you are poor by landlords, bill companies,banks because of bad checks,. we are just trying to get by and raise our families the best we can... we are not bad people..just poor
shanna posted on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
For those unfamiliar with the valuable services provided by East Missouri Action Agency (EMAA), please visit our website at eastmoaa.org.
EMAA serves the following counties: Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Iron, Madison, Perry, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve and Washington. For information specific to the county you live in, please call 1-800-392-8663 and ask the operator to forward you to your local county outreach office.
EMAA serves the following counties: Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Iron, Madison, Perry, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve and Washington. For information specific to the county you live in, please call 1-800-392-8663 and ask the operator to forward you to your local county outreach office.
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