On August 25th, all Johnson County Central High School seniors participated in a poverty simulation put on by SENCA. Susan Keholm, the SENCA development director, and other volunteers from SENCA and the community played the parts of community agencies, businesses, and service agencies to help students to understand what it is like to live in poverty.
All students were divided up into families and were given specific roles in their families. They worked through a simulated month - four periods of 15 minutes, representing the four weeks of a month - and during that time had to secure basic needs including food, shelter, and utilities. Through the experience, students built empathy for those living in poverty and began to understand the systematic barriers and daily stresses faced by so many people every day.
After going through the experience, JCC senior Terry Wright said, 'What happened in this simulation was so much like what happens in real life; it's important to know what to do when you face challenges.'
