New families, new situations and a new understanding of homelessness and inadequate housing are some of the things Eastern’s Habitat for Humanity wants to give students, faculty and staff on Wednesday.

The Eastern Habitat for Humanity will be having a housing simulation at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the Charleston-Mattoon Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Kateri Tonyan, a senior biology major and the public relations chair for Eastern’s Habitat for Humanity chapter, said the group wants to give people an idea of what it is like to be homeless or have inadequate living arrangements.

“It’s a way to get students here at Eastern to think about issue for people of low income experiences and seeking housing,” Tonyan said.

Tonyan said during the simulation participants will receive new ages, families, and class or job status.

Each person will also be given a situation. Some of the situations include the participant getting a recent divorce and losing his house to his wife or losing a job and apartment because of alcoholism.

The simulation is made up of four 10-minute days, Tonyan said.

Each day the participant has to find a place to live by going to different tables to find housing for that night.

“A lot of the time the students won’t be able to find housing, or only be able to get into a shelter, or they will be put on a waiting list,” Tonyan said.

Tonyan said it is important for people to know about the types of situations in a community.

“I think it is good to be aware of the situations within your community and open people’s eyes so that they can help others in their community,” Tonyan said.

Tonyan said it is not just people without a place to stay that need help.

“Even locally, we have a ton of inadequate housing here in Charleston,” Tonyan said.  “So I that it’ll be a good eye opening for people to realize that homelessness doesn’t necessarily mean that you are without a house.” 

Tonyan said people live in inadequate housing all the time, whether it involves not having heat in a room or having mold in the walls. 

“A lot of people don’t realize there is a lot of inadequate housing out there and it could happen to anyone,” Tonyan said. 

Tonyan said Habitat for Humanity is currently working on a house for a woman who has no heat in a couple of rooms and something wrong with her water. 

She said this helped give them idea that not everyone has to been homeless to get help.  

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.