Students tell stories of poverty

Without a real stage and dressed in typical college-student attire, students in a service learning section of C121 Public Speaking showed how poverty and homelessness can happen to anyone.

“Show and Tell: Stories of Poverty” featured real cases of poverty and homelessness acted out by students. The free event occurred Monday at Rachael’s Cafe and provided facts on poverty and homelessness in Bloomington and how the community can help.

The performance was part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, which is being observed locally to inform the community on these issues.

Instructor Jeremiah Donovan said the nine students in the class are required to volunteer at the Shalom Community Center once a week, and he has seen a shift in how students view poverty in Bloomington.

“The biggest change I’ve seen is that they’ve become engaged,” he said.

The students give regular readings and monologues during class, but “Show and Tell” was their first public performance. The event consisted of three skits inspired by true stories, each followed by local statistics about hunger and homelessness.

Junior Connor Begley played a man whose family had to receive food from a local food pantry, even though he had a job and an income. He said that when creating the skit, he thought about what he would do in this situation and hoped that those who watched the performance changed their views on the appearance of poverty.

“I think people benefitted because people don’t see this side of poverty, especially this side in Bloomington,” he said.

Freshman Brent Young, who acted out the story of a truck driver trying to provide for a family as a single parent, said the course and the performance showed him how the average person can easily slip into poverty.

After spending time at the Shalom Center this semester and meeting some of the people in the community that use its services, he said he plans to continue volunteering after the course ends.

“It’s opened me up to a new light on homelessness and poverty,” Young said.