January, the Elizabethtown community gathered at Elizabethtown College campus for a poverty simulation. The simulation aimed to show participants what it could be like to live four weeks in poverty. The Elizabethtown Community Housing and Outreach Services (ECHOS) partnered with the Elizabethtown Chamber of Commerce and the Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Lancaster County to host and run the poverty simulation.
The simulation had 25 participants, which is the minimum number required by Community Action Partnership to run a simulation. They typically expect anywhere from 50 to 80 participants. Participants were broken up into families and assigned separate roles, once they arrived. Everyone was given a name tag; with the name and age of the family member they were portraying. They were also given a packet of information about their family’s situation such as weekly bills, who in the family is employed, and the personality traits of their character.
“I mean for me the poverty simulation is a powerful tool to build awareness and empathy and understanding of the challenges our community faces. I think by individuals participating they get a first-hand experience of the difficulties and the decisions of those living in poverty face every day,” said Ashley Bulley, executive director of ECHOS. “Which is not something that most people in our community have a full understanding of, but also for us as an organization it’s important for us to be advocating to help build that knowledge and understanding so that we all show up more empathetically to support those in our community.”
The poverty simulation was run by Community Action Partnership staff and volunteers. About 15 people were needed to help with the simulation. The volunteers and staff were positioned as the different vendors that participants could go to pay bills and find additional resources.
Community Action Partnership Director of Initiatives, Rhiannon Noecker, explained “We do have training that’s available and also, we prefer that people go through the simulation before they actually become a volunteer, so they can kind of get the other side of it. Then we have a packet that goes out with very easy instructions to understand.”
The Missouri Community Action Partnership created the kits that had all the family and vendor details for the event. The kits use real-life scenarios and situations to create the simulations. They are also responsible for updating the kits every couple of years with the latest information.
Afterwards everyone was asked to reflect on the experience. One participant, Chair of the ECHOS Board of Directors, Deb Riley, said “I thought it was awesome. To really be in that hour simulation of, week by week what you have to pay, what you have to do, and you feel so frustrated that you only have so many resources and you have no way of getting all those things done. It was a snowball that just kept building and building.”
Organizations, businesses, and school districts partner with CAP to bring poverty simulations to their communities; they donate up to $1,500 for CAP to run the simulation. ECHOS plans to continue to run events that give the community a better understanding of what individuals in poverty may face every day.
Bulley explained, “My goal is to continue to partner, and we did partner with the Elizabethtown Chamber of Commerce, who was another sponsor for the event, to help really bring the college community, the general community, and then the business community together.”
(Editors Note: This article was written by One United Lancaster editorial intern Ava Gates: Ava Gates is a current Elizabethtown College student studying Professional Writing and Journalism. She has a passion for writing, storytelling, and all things related to the arts. As an editorial intern for United Way of Lancaster County, Ava is excited to get more involved with the community and learn about local nonprofits’ work.)
