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Columbiana Co. simulation event to help the needy
By D.A. WILKINSON
LISBON
Officials hope to get more volunteers to take part in a simulation that could help the needy get out of poverty.
Reservations are still being taken at the Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services.
The event will be from 5 to 9 p.m. June 8 at David Anderson High School.
About 45 people have signed up to take part in the program.
Carol Bretz, executive director of the Community Action Agency of Columbiana County, said that she hoped to get about 15 more participants. The program will be offered again later this year.
The event will consist of role-playing. Participants will play members of a family with tight finances, and those conducting the program will portray social workers, loan officers, utilities collectors or pawnbrokers. The players are likely to feel the emotions of dealing with a financial problem during the game.
The goal is to get people to think about poverty and how they can help others get out of it.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel said, “We grew up in the heyday of steel. Many people quit school to go work in the mills. Many did not get an education before going to the mills.”
Three generations work-ed in area steel mills before the mills closed, leaving many with few skills.
People who have an education or a job also have what Bretz called “social capital.”
“They know how to get things done,” she said.
That may be as simple as making calls to find a good repairman or larger issues, she said.
Commissioner Dan Bing said that Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and youths in 4-H also have social capital.
Those who have lived in poverty may not know how to get help, Bretz said.
Those who take part in the program can become a mentor to help people gain their own social capital, she said.
Bretz noted that countywide, some 48 percent of all students are eligible for free or reduced lunches, a sign of the poor economy.