How to End Poverty in Ninety Minutes (With 99 People You May or May Not Know), conceived by the Sojourn Theatre, takes the stage at Whitman College.  This performance – described as “not a play” but a “container for dialogue” – seeks to engage audience members in a discussion of poverty at the local and national level.  Audiences are tasked with voting how to invest $1000 in the approach that will most effectively bring an end to poverty in Walla Walla. The show has been performed before, requiring an update to the script every time it arrives in a new community. Previous productions took place at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Northwestern in Chicago, Illinois; Portland Playhouse, Oregon; and Big Sky, Montana.  How To End Poverty will be presented in English and Spanish, in order to serve the greater Walla Walla community.  Any night the show is presented, there will be moments of translation (both from Spanish to English and vice versa).

Writers, actors, and other students have worked many hours to research and include important issues and themes relevant to Walla Walla to give the show a sense of pedestrian locality.  Some of this research took place at the Whitman College and Northwest Archives where students in Professor Jenna Terry’s Composition classes explored the history of poverty in Walla Walla.  Research not only fueled conversations, but found its way into monologues and scenes of the show. Other research focused on the present with cast members attending community meetings and inviting local poverty experts to rehearsals.  Local poverty experts will appear in live cameos during the shows, in order to complicate and fuel the discussion on poverty within the 90 minutes the show allows.

Here’s a recap from some of the individuals who spoke and helped provide the background that shaped the script:

• Jeff Matthias; Matthias is the Food Bank Director of the Blue Mountain Action Council, an organization that focuses on problems of poverty within the Blue Mountain Region of Washington.  He elaborated on the complex process of attaining food from one of the many food pantries in Walla Walla can sometimes hold.  The city requires a food card, which must be renewed every month.  Food pantry hours and transportation to and from the pantry can be challenging for some. Matthias also discussed backpack programs–or programs that give children meals at school and food to take home for the weekend.  Over 5,000 Walla Walla public school kids are currently eligible for free and reduced lunch program.

• Danielle Garbe; Garbe works with the Sherwood Trust in Walla Walla, allocating funds to organizations/individuals as the Trust sees fit.  This includes existing charity organizations within Walla Walla, supporting students internships with local nonprofits, and other endeavors that the Trust deems an “effective way [of] giving money.”  Garbe also pointed to facts broadcasted by the Walla Walla Community Council: residents of the Blue Mountain Region find themselves in economic hardship more frequently and more severely than the residents of other parts of Washington and that this economic hardship centers in the Latino community near downtown Walla Walla and Milton-Freewater.

• Dr. Harvey Crowder; Crowder works in the health department in Walla Walla, as the director. He sees many low-income clients within the department, whether it be mothers looking to ensure their babies’ health or individuals with special needs who are attempting to find care fit for their situations.  Crowder noted that funding, help with navigating the system, and care about environmental health hazards all have gone down considerably. Currently 18% of individuals in Walla Walla live below the poverty line.

• Joe Fields; Fields works at the STAR program, with inamtes in and being released from the penitentiary.  He is a housing coordinator within the program.  Fields shared that individuals released from the prison leave the penitentiary with a white t-shirt, khakis and $40 in cash. The STAR program assists these individuals with finding lodging, jobs, and other necessities within society with resources that they do not readily have available.  Importantly, Fields finds that most people who express that they’re willing to give a second chance suddenly redact their statements when the STAR project looks into helping an individual integrate into society near their homes.

• Noah Leavitt; Leavitt, the Associate Dean for Student Engagement at Whitman, has a background in law, working in public policy, and community organizing. He is active with the Interfaith Coalition on Poverty here in Walla Walla,  Leavitt drew attention to the work of many individual organizations in Walla Walla and expressed that the community has an openness to ideas and adapting for the community, collaboration as a community, and a strong sense of charitable actions.  Leavitt, however, also pointed out the capacity that our community has to improve, citing the lack of communication between the white community and the Latino community.

• Sergio Hernandez; Hernandez, a retired superintendent of Eastern Washington, now runs the INK-OUT program in Walla Walla.  This program offered through the Health Center, allows ex-gang members who want to disassociate with the gang by removing tattoos.  These tattoo removals do require, however, some commitment from the person wanting the removal.  All applicants are required to complete 25 hours of community service and select a mentor to help them on their journey. The creation of the INK-OUT program, Hernandez explained, followed the model of a short term solution intending to have long term effects.

To finish off this update, here’s one of the artifact projects from one of Professor Jenna Terry’s students, who studied the labor camps that many farm workers still live in today.  This story will appear in the preshow, alongside six other stories in the Listening Booth.  Without any further ado, this is “The Not-So American Dream” by Liezel Lenhart.

How To End Poverty opens on April 13th and runs through the 18th.  Tickets are on sale now!  Adults are $12, non-Whitman students and seniors are $8, and Whitties are FREE! HJT box office: 509 527-5180. Come have a conversation with us!