The Simulation Experience

The poverty simulation experience is designed to help participants begin to understand what it might look like to live in a typical low-income family trying to survive from month to month. It is a simulation, not a game. The objective is to sensitize participants to the realities faced by low-income people.

In the simulation, up to 88 participants assume the roles of up to 26 different families facing poverty. Some families are newly employed, some are recently deserted by the "breadwinner", some are unhoused, others are recipients of public assistance. Still others are senior citizens receiving Disability or Retirement, or grandparents raising their grandchildren. The task of the "families" is to provide for basic necessities and shelter over four 15-minute "weeks".

The simulation is conducted in a large room with the "families" seated in groups in the center of the room. Around the perimeter are tables representing community resources and services for the families. These services include a bank, super center, Community Action Agency, employer, utility company, pawn broker, grocery, social service agency, faith-based agency, payday and title loan facility, mortgage company, school, community health center, and child care center.

Volunteers will staff the resource tables and assume the roles of a police officer and an "illegal activities" person.

The experience lasts from two and a half to three hours. It includes an introduction and briefing, the actual simulation exercise, and a debriefing period in which participants and volunteer staffers share their feelings and experiences and talk about what they have learned about the lives of people in poverty.

Responsibilities of Volunteer Staffers

Persons recruited as volunteer staffers are asked to think about the role they might like to fill. Volunteers may have had personal experiences that enable them to be especially effective in portraying a given role. Realistic portrayals contribute greatly to the experience.

Volunteers will meet shortly before the event begins for an orientation. An overview of the simulation will be given at that time, assigned roles and responsibilities will be agreed upon, and instruction packets will be given to each volunteer.