By
Jackie Kochell
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.
