CU Dental 2018 - 13

"... the hands-on Poverty Simulation experience is
more powerful than any lecture."
agencies that could provide services
for these families - from food and rent
assistance to childcare. Each 15 minutes
of the simulation represented a week in
their lives.
There also was a bank, an employer,
a juvenile detention center, utility and
mortgage companies, a pawnshop, and a
health care clinic, among other businesses
and agencies.
The students represented four
different types of families during the
simulation. They included a family of four
or five; some had two parents and others
were single parents with children. Some
students posed as elderly single people
with health issues and little family support.
Dental student Ryan Koster, 22, was
surprised to find out he was a pregnant
16-year-old girl.
"I'm due in two months, we just got
evicted and I'm not doing too hot," says
Koster, adding that he's had no access to
health care. "It's crazy, it's eye-opening. It's
a lot more interactive than I thought. This
experience has helped me understand
different people and situations. This will
make me a better dentist."
CU Dental Student, Damon Pogoncheff,
receives fake money to participate in the poverty
simulation.

POVERTY IN THE
UNITED STATES

A family in crisis
For the family of Margaret, Miles, Melinda
and Mandy, the struggles resonated with
the dental students who played their parts.
"It definitely gives you a different
perspective of how people live," says
Hassanain Zaheer, 23, who was 15-yearold Mandy. "This simulation helps us
understand the hoops people have to
go through. This is the first time I've
done anything like this - it's a unique
experience."
Stanford Smith, 29, who represented
Miles, the father, said he gained new
insight as the only wage earner in a large
family.
"I didn't know what we were going to
do - it was hard to get things done and you
had to learn to work the system," he says.
"It was so frustrating because you're trying
to do everything, but the lines were long
and you couldn't get stuff done."
He says the experience helped him
understand the complexities low-income
families face every day.
"This is a great program - it really
made me see what it's like to live on
minimum wage," he says. "It makes me
want to do more and help the people I see
as patients."
While her "family" faced challenging
life situations and tough decisions, Messay
Ibrahim, 25, said she didn't realize life
could be so difficult.
"As Melinda, I'm unemployed and I
tried to get a job, but I couldn't," she said.
"It was just so hard trying to pay our bills
and we still got evicted. We just had so
many things thrown at us."
She says the experience will make her a
better dentist.
"It helps us to know where our patients
are coming from and all the emotions and
stress that comes with living in poverty,"
she says. "The one thing I did like was
that our family did try to work together
to overcome all our challenges - and I'm
thankful for that."

Overall

12.7%
40.6 million people in the
U.S. fell below the poverty
line in 2016.

Child Poverty

18.0%

13.3 million children under
age 18 fell below the poverty
line in 2016.

____
POVERTY
IN COLORADO

Overall

11.0%
Percentage of people who
fell below the poverty line -
$24,340 for a family of four
- in 2016

Child Poverty

13.1%

Percentage of children under
age 18 who fell below the
poverty line in 2016

https://talkpoverty.org

DENTAL. INTEGRATED FOR HEALTH.

13



https://www.talkpoverty.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CU Dental 2018

Tablet of Contents
CU Dental 2018 - Cover1
CU Dental 2018 - Cover2
CU Dental 2018 - Tablet of Contents
CU Dental 2018 - 2
CU Dental 2018 - 3
CU Dental 2018 - 4
CU Dental 2018 - 5
CU Dental 2018 - 6
CU Dental 2018 - 7
CU Dental 2018 - 8
CU Dental 2018 - 9
CU Dental 2018 - 10
CU Dental 2018 - 11
CU Dental 2018 - 12
CU Dental 2018 - 13
CU Dental 2018 - 14
CU Dental 2018 - 15
CU Dental 2018 - 16
CU Dental 2018 - 17
CU Dental 2018 - 18
CU Dental 2018 - 19
CU Dental 2018 - 20
CU Dental 2018 - 21
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CU Dental 2018 - 24
CU Dental 2018 - 25
CU Dental 2018 - 26
CU Dental 2018 - 27
CU Dental 2018 - 28
CU Dental 2018 - 29
CU Dental 2018 - 30
CU Dental 2018 - 31
CU Dental 2018 - 32
CU Dental 2018 - Cover3
CU Dental 2018 - Cover4
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