Poverty Simulation Workshop

 

Could You Survive A Month In Poverty?

 

LOCATION: KENT ISD – ESC BUILDING (PARK IN LOT #11)

2930 KNAPP N.E.  GRAND RAPIDS, MI  49525

CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS

November 1, 2012 6:00 p.m.

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




In the simulation, 50 to 75 participants assume the roles of up to 26 different families facing poverty. Some are newly unemployed, some are recently deserted by the “breadwinner”, and others are recipients of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, formerly AFDC), either with or without additional earned income. Others are disabled or are senior citizens receiving Social Security. The task of the “families” is to provide for basic necessities and shelter during the course of four 15-minute “weeks”.

The experience lasts from two 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 reactions and experiences