BY ISHA MISHRA Most Americans can’t cover a $400 emergency. Recently, we learned exactly why—and what living with that pressure really feels like. This past week, I was one of five Bank of America Student Leaders at Crisis Assistance Ministry to participate in a “poverty simulation,” an experience designed to challenge how we think about […]
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.
Participation in a poverty simulation: fast moving, immersive, stressful, real. Everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong. But you will be left thinking.
This year, over 200 Atrium Health staff and medical students have participated in virtual poverty awareness experiences with Crisis Assistance Ministry. The sessions are part of an ongoing partnership between Atrium and Crisis Assistance Ministry that aims to sensitize healthcare providers to the challenges their patients may face outside the walls of the examining room.
For aspiring nurses, an understanding of what life is like for people in underserved communities is a critical part of their education. At UNC Charlotte, students have a chance to experience what their patients may face on a day-to-day basis through Crisis Assistance Ministry’s Poverty Simulation.
In the fall of 2016, with political acrimony and discord rocking the nation, retired pastor Reverend Richard Little looked around the congregation at Morning Star Lutheran Church and thought to himself, “If we can’t get together in the church to talk about our differences, where can we do that?”
I’m skeptical when I hear people talk about life-altering, perspective-shifting experiences. So, when I came home to tell my roommate that I had just experienced one of the most powerful and transformative two hours of my life, I recognized the incredulous face looking back at me.
Brendan Coffey is passionate about his community and about the practice of change management. An Enterprise Change Manager with Avid Xchange here in Charlotte, he first got to know Crisis Assistance Ministry as part of an assignment for his MBA program at Queens University of Charlotte.
