DATE: Thursday, September 18, 1997 TAG: 9709180315 SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: BY LOUIS HANSEN, STAFF WRITER DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 58 lines
Cheats and double-dealers everywhere, pawn brokers and landlords preying on the poor, frantic masses - and these, some of our cities' most compassionate citizens!
Luckily, it was only a welfare simulation that turned the hearts of more than 75 social workers from Suffolk, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight for three hours Wednesday. Social workers and civic leaders across the state also will participate in the simulation in the coming months.
As welfare reform comes to Hampton Roads on Oct. 1, the goal of the simulation was to sensitize people to the daily plight of the poor, said Brenda Olafson of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, which organized the event.
In the simulation, social workers became welfare recipients and felt frustration, anger, helplessness and despair.
``In real life, it's a struggle,'' Olafson said.
Social workers and community volunteers played roles on the stage of a welfare world, acting as pawn brokers, landlords, social workers, grocers, police officers, and more than a dozen welfare families. They tried to wend their way through a series of financial struggles at Suffolk Christian Church.
Well-mannered men and women adapted to their roles quickly.
Children skipped school; adults bickered with Big Dave, the pawn broker; and almost everybody threw up their hands at the long lines for vital services.
By the middle of the program, many were feeling the desperation of trying to provide the basics. Cash and goods stuck to everyone's fingertips.
Whoosh! A stack of bus tickets disappears.
Thank you. Next! The Quik Cash manager pockets a $100 commission to cash your welfare check, then waves you away.
Zip! A pile of dollar bills on a teacher's desk disappears quicker than a stick of chalk.
With so many people trying to take advantage of her, said Suffolk social worker Roberta Bunch, ``I felt like it was hard to continue being honest.''
Olafson said the poor are the most likely targets for fraud. It's no surprise, she said, that those traits spread through the players.
``Contagious is the right word,'' Olafson said. ``It's much easier in this situation to do it.''
Mostly, though, the feeling was an increasing frustration to feed, clothe and shelter their families.
Portsmouth social services worker Betty Backus waited at the other end of the welfare line for the first time. The frustration grew as her children were thrown out of school and the family was evicted from their apartment.
``You really didn't stand a chance,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot
Ken Decker played the role of Big Dave, a pawn broker, during a
welfare simulation game. Participants learned that, as one organizer
summed up: ``In real life, it's a struggle.''
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