According to the U.S. Bureau of Census, in 2021 over 6,000 Albany County residents living with an income below the poverty level. That’s over 17 percent of the county. Many in the county continue to struggle with bill payments and unforeseen life misfortunes, amidst inflation and an ever-tighter budget. But for others, the experience of poverty is far removed, and they are unaware of this situation. This is part of the reason the University of Wyoming (UW) will hold a poverty simulation exercise to create awareness about life in poverty.
The Community Action Poverty Simulation is organized by the Service, Leadership, and Community Engagement office (SLCE) of UW. The experience will sensitize the public to the everyday realities of life in poverty. It will also showcase community resources for people with low incomes in Laramie.
“The goal for the poverty simulation is to make people in our community more aware of what other people are facing in Albany county,” Simona Wambeke, the SLCE program coordinator said. “It’s also just to shine light on different resources that we have. In the simulation, people will have different challenges that they're facing. And basically, it's just trying to show how does somebody survive one month of poverty? How do they pay all the bills when their teenage son just got a neighbor’s daughter pregnant, and they just lost their jobs? How do they pay the bills when a luck of the draw happens, and either something really great happens or something really bad happens?”
The poverty simulation exercise will enable participants to understand poverty from a variety of angles and recognize the potential for change and inspire action within the community. The exercise will be held at the Wyoming Union Ballroom from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 25.
