Poverty is timeless, ageless, and does not discriminate...

Kudos to the Missouri Community Action who created the Poverty Simulation.  http://www.communityaction.org/poverty%20simulation.aspx

We never had tons of money growing up and I was always proud - and still am by the way- that we made ends meet as a family.  My parents never talked about just how bad things got at times until after I was grown and married.  Plus, our humble living abode was in a nice neighborhood with the largest yards NOT in the country that became "the hood" pretty quickly.  Still- I am proud- to say that is my childhood and adolescent history.   

Why the little rant? Well.........I experienced in the Poverty Simulation for the first time 4 years ago.  I have since facilitated the simulation many times.  It NEVER fails to hit me that I have only experienced a small slice of low income and struggling finances yet, hardly poverty!  Participants, mostly school faculty in sessions, are assigned a role in a family.  Each family and its membes have a scenario they must play out for "a month." Some people are children ages 2-17.  Some people begin the month already homeless in the shelter.  Some are elderly and living alone.  Others are unwed teens with a child.  

To facilitate the simulation, community agencies surround the room.  Typical agencies include the police department and juvinille hall, the grocery store, bank, employer, pawn shop, social security office, school, day care, and others.  Families have responsibilities and tasks to carry out throughout the month. Each week of the month lasts 15 minutes.  Oh, and in order to visit any agency, the family member must use transportation passes.  

The reality is that for some families their situation never improves only deteriates.  The snowball effect of consequences and circumstances grows to epic proportions.  Participants who take the simulation seriously get emotional, irritated, even hostile at times at the helplessness and chaos of trying to "make it work."  At the end of the day we debrief with the group and discuss situations, scenarios, and feelings experienced during the "month".  As I watch and listen the participants usually have the "Ah Ha!" moment of just how poverty affects the students and the families they work with on a day in and day out basis.  

If you ever have the opportunity, check out a half day session of the Poverty Simulation.  It may be the experience of a lifetime that changes your whole perspective and inturn makes a difference in the lives of those who live in the hopeless trenches of poverty.

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