What is the Community Action Poverty Simulation?
The Community Action Poverty Simulation is an annual event, hosted by the Northwest Interprofessional Health Collaboration (NIHC), that breaks down stereotypes by allowing participants to step into the real-life situations of others. Poverty is often portrayed as a stand-alone issue – but this simulation allows individuals to walk a month in the shoes of someone who is facing poverty and realize how complex and interconnected issues of poverty truly are.
- A single parent with limited resources and no transportation must find a way to get to work and get their child to daycare.
- An elderly person must find a way to pay for both utilities and medication.
- A young adult must care for siblings while their parent is incarcerated.
- An elderly couple must raise thair grandchildren and deal with their own health and employment issues.
The simulation offers health professions learners a chance to reconsider the daily challenges faced by their future low-income patients and families. More importantly, this activity helps learners pinpoint areas for change that can directly mitigate the effects of poverty on individuals, families, and communities
Living a Month in Poverty
The simulation involves participants who take on the roles of members of up to 26 families, all facing a variety of challenging, but typical, circumstances. To start the simulation exercise, each family is given a card explaining its unique circumstances. It is then the families’ task to provide food, shelter, and their basic necessities by accessing various community resources during the course of four 15-minute “weeks.”
In addition, about 20 community, staff, and faculty volunteers play the roles of resource providers in the community. The Community Action Poverty Simulation is conducted in a large room. Participants are seated in family groups and community resources are located at tables around the perimeter of the room. The facilitator opens the simulation with an orientation to the activity, goes over ground rules, and answers participant questions during the exercise.
The activity lasts about three hours. This time frame includes an introduction and briefing by the facilitator, the simulation exercise, and a guided debriefing in which participants and volunteers share their observations and insights from the activity.
After the experience, learners then have the opportunity to discuss what they’ve learned with their peers.
Learning Objectives
- Promote Poverty Awareness – During the simulation, role-play a month in poverty and experience low-income families’ lives.
- Increase Understanding – After the simulation, you will unpack your learning and brainstorm community change.
- Inspire Local Change – Together, you can be a voice to end poverty in your family, friends, and community.
- Transform Perspectives – The goal of CAPS is to shift the paradigm about poverty away from being seen as a personal failure and toward the understanding of poverty as a structural failure of society.
Upcoming Poverty Simulation Details
When: Friday, October 25, 2024, from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Where: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences – University Conference Center
This activity is open to all students participating in the Northwest Interprofessional Health Collaborative (NIHC) – PNWU, WSU, Heritage, and CWU
Registration is required. Space is limited. Students may register now through Sign-Up Genius.
Information for our Community Volunteer Staffers
We invite community members to participate in our Poverty Simulation as a Volunteer Facilitator or Community Staffer. Familiarity or experience with a listed role is highly desirable but not required. The NIHC will provide an opportunity for volunteer staffers to participate in an orientation before the simulation. The orientation should take no longer than an hour, date & time TBD. Below you will find a link to our list & description of Volunteer Staffer Roles and a brochure from the Missouri Community Action Network.
https://www.pnwu.edu/files/2023/08/Missouri-Community-Action-Network_Poverty-Simulation-Brochure.pdf
The Community Action Poverty Simulation was designed by the Missouri Community Action Network. Learn more at www.povertysimulation.org.