CHAMPAIGN--The United Way gave people new identities and incomes Wednesday night and showed them what it would be like to be poor. "I'll go pay the rent so we don't get kicked out of the house," said Jane Solon. She played someone she hopes she'll never be: A 72-year old diabetic sharing about 350 dollars a week with her husband. Money keeps running out. "To pay our loans, our medical bills, our rent, our utilities and that's if nothing goes bad," she said.

Solon and dozens of others simulated a month in poverty. "One of the frustrations that you notice is the parents who are trying to meet the needs of their children and are not able to do that," she said. People traveled around a room at the Round Barn Banquet Center taking care of their needs as best as they could. "I mean your read about it every day, but until you have to actually try to budget your money and your finances and see how it difficult it is, it brings a reality to it," said Solon. They may have played with fake money and fake food, but organizers stress this isn't a game. 36 thousand people in Champaign County alone live at or below the poverty line. That's 20 percent of the population. "This is to seriously have people walk in the shoes of those families in our county who are experiencing difficulty," said United Way of Champaign County CEO Lyn Jones. She says once you get a taste of poverty, you need to address it.