More than 1 out of every 4 residents in Harrisonburg and Charlottesville live in poverty. Saturday, May 23, a non-profit is offering those who don't live in poverty, a chance to experience the struggles their poorer neighbors go through on a daily basis.
Alicia Lenahan is not your typical 17-year old boy. Although...in some ways, she's more common than you'd think.
ALICIA LENAHAN: As a participant, I was assigned a role. I was a member of a family, I was a 17 year old male high school drop out, living with my mother and my sister. Our father had recently up and gone, leaving mom with $20, an apartment and little else.
Lenahan is actually the president of Piedmont CASA, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates for abused and neglected children. Lenahan says that 90 percent of the families they take on, live at or below the federal poverty level - for a family of four, that means surviving on less than $24,300 a year.
This Saturday, for the second year in a row, Piedmont CASA is hosting a free poverty simulation for the members of the public.
LENAHAN: Those who participate will get a glimpse into what it's like to be working as hard as you can to meet your family's needs and still very likely falling short. So before we judge, and before we consider them "other," remember they are our neighbors, that they live here in Charlottesville, where the poverty rate is about 27 percent, and that they deserve our respect and they also deserve our help.
For WMRA News, I'm JordyYager.