- Poverty Simulations are currently offered in a flexible, virtual format.
Groups of ten or more who are interested in learning about and connecting with the complex issues surrounding poverty on a deeper, more personal level, can now register for the Virtual Poverty Awareness Experience.
Facilitated by a member of the Crisis Assistance Ministry team, this experience consists of three segments:
- An overview of Crisis Assistance Ministry and its role in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community
- An online simulation experience designed to invoke deeper understanding and empathy surrounding the realities of living with limited financial resources
- A guided group discussion focused on sharing perspectives, understanding challenges, and discussing the collective action needed to create a better society for everyone
The experience is designed for adult learners who live or work in Mecklenburg County. It is conducted via Zoom and can be customized for corporate groups, houses of worship, higher education, and more.
Crisis Assistance Ministry does not charge for facilitating this activity, but donations are greatly appreciated as they help fund the agency’s mission.
- Virtual poverty simulations can be scheduled for groups of 10 or more. To discuss how this experience could benefit your group, please contact our Civic Engagement team directly.
- If your group of 50-80 is interested in an in-person simulation, please contact our Civic Engagement team to find out more about what is involved in hosting these limited opportunities.
What is a Poverty Simulation?
A Poverty Simulation is a facilitated two-hour immersive experience designed to create awareness among participants of life at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. Participants are assigned to “families” who do their best to survive week-to-week over a simulated one-month period. The simulation presents participants with real-life scenarios and challenges faced by people living in poverty. The exercise is immediately followed by a group debrief, during which participants reflect on the experience, discuss insights, and consider next steps.
Participants often tell us they will never forget the overwhelming stress and hopelessness they felt as they walked in the shoes of someone facing poverty.
Since 2008, Crisis Assistance Ministry has been the local lead facilitator of the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS), which is owned by the Missouri Community Action Network. In the last four years alone, nearly 7,000 local citizens, including community leaders, business professionals, and members of faith communities, have experienced a simulation sponsored by our agency. They often leave shaken by the role play, telling us they will never forget the overwhelming stress and hopelessness they felt as they walked in the shoes of someone facing poverty.
The ultimate goal of the Poverty Simulation is to transform these insights into action. Executives have changed policies at their place of work and teachers have pledged to change how they treat children at school as a result of their participation.
If you are interested in hosting a poverty simulation, please contact us by email.
If you are interested in learning more about the Missouri Community Action Network or purchasing a CAPS kit license, please visit communityaction.org or povertysimulation.net.
Participant Testimonials
Poverty Simulation F.A.Q.
International Women’s Day 2023: Embrace Equity
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The theme for this year’s observance is “Embrace Equity.”
Put Yourself in Someone Else’s Shoes
With two kids to care for, aged 7 and 9, there is a zero percent chance my family can pay these bills on time. Should I fall behind on rent payments and risk eviction? Should I ignore the electric bill and risk the power being cut off? How will I be able to afford groceries for the coming week? All of these questions spiraled through my mind as I came to a harrowing conclusion: my family and I could likely end up homeless very soon.
Suddenly, I heard a whistle blow, and a hush fell over the room. It was over.
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Transforming Unjust Systems: MLK Day 2023
Martin Luther King Day, the only federal holiday designated as a day of service, is observed on the third Monday of January, near his birth date of January 15. It is a time to not only reflect on his life and legacy but also to find ways to further his work toward racial and economic justice. Fifty-five years after his death, Dr. King’s dream has yet to come true. Although progress has been made in many areas, there is still much work to be done.
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Guaranteed Basic Income for Charlotteans?
With the winter upon us, families in Charlotte, and across the country, are struggling to make ends meet. Inflation growth has outpaced wage growth, resulting in a three percent decline in real hourly earnings. People are working harder than ever but still falling behind on rent and utilities. The amount of their past due bills is increasing but their paychecks are not. To put it simply, people need more money. But should we use policy to get more money into the hands of those who need it the most?
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A Cozy Coat Can Help Your Neighbors Stay Warm
Steve’s Coats for Kids welcomes new or gently used coats of all sizes, from children’s sizes up to adult sizes, and the coats that are collected in Charlotte-Mecklenburg will be added to the Crisis Assistance Ministry Free Store or distributed to our countywide Partner Agencies to provide to their clients.
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Native American Heritage Month: We Are Still Here
This month is an opportunity to learn more about histories of the Indigenous and Native cultures of America, and where those histories intersect in the present.
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This Experience Will Make You Rethink Poverty
Participation in a poverty simulation: fast moving, immersive, stressful, real. Everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong. But you will be left thinking.
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Heat and Inequities in the Urban Environment
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On Juneteenth, Equity, Equality, and Freedom
Juneteenth marks a celebration of freedom—at least in the legal sense of the word. But it also evokes several bitter truths surrounding emancipation and its legacy. We see the ripples of that legacy here every day as we work to help our neighbors whose struggles are made more difficult by the social and systemic legacies of chattel slavery in the United States.
As we reflect on a historic moment in time, we can’t overlook the centuries of disenfranchisement that have followed legal emancipation and consider whether true freedom, equity, and equality have yet to arrive for many of our fellow citizens.
The Cycle of Poverty and Mental Illness
Defining the connection between poverty and mental illness is a chicken-and-egg scenario: does mental illness create an inability to overcome a state of poverty, or does poverty increase or perpetuate the occurrence of mental illness?
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