Poverty Simulation

The Poverty Simulation opens people’s eyes to the human cost of poverty. The power of this unique learning resource is that it creates, like nothing else, insight into the state of chronic crisis that consumes so many working poor families. Participants experience one month of poverty comprised of four fifteen-minute weeks. Afterwards, in the debriefing, they share insights of extraordinary vividness and intensity.

This simulation can be held at a United Ministries facility or at an onsite location such as a business, church, meeting facility, etc.  The simulation was created by Missouri Community Action and has been facilitated by Our Eyes Were Opened, the poverty education program of United Ministries in Greenville, SC, for more than 2,200 people.

Cost: $15 per person
(please note: an invoice will include mileage when out of town travel is required.)

Who Participates: Businesses, church groups, teachers, students, community leaders and the like

Group size: 25-72

Space requirements: A large room (about the size of a gym), multiple tables, and over 100 chairs. Request floor plan for set up.

How It Works: Participants are randomly placed into families of one to five members. They receive an envelope that describes their demographics, income, resources and bills. They interact with trained volunteers who act as “vendors” sitting at tables around the perimeter of the room. During the course of the simulation, they may deal with a mortgage/rental company, a school, a pawnbroker, a banker, an employer and others.  To get from “home” to one of the vendors requires a transportation ticket -- this is just the first of many challenges the participants experience within the two-hour time period. 

Participant Feedback:

• "I had no awareness of the struggle of living in poverty."
• "I think the time constraints make it realistic. I had to choose between possibly being late for work and getting some other matters taken care of."
• "It was really cool to see how hard it is to live in poverty.  I thought it felt realistic, and I truly thought that it was real life.  I had a family and saw what it as like to have to take care of three children with no money."
• "The simulation was complicated, confusing and frustrating. I realized that things aren’t as simple as you may think." 
  
  

For more information, we invite you to download our full brochure, contact Paul Clay by phone at 864.232.5287, or complete our Book an Activity online form.