Allen County residents will have a chance to experience the daily challenges faced by low-income families when the rescheduled Community Action Poverty Simulation takes place Wednesday, April 23, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Iola Recreation Building in Riverside Park. The event, which was previously postponed, is free and open to the public.
The simulation is designed to help participants “walk in the shoes” of those living in poverty by role-playing different family scenarios — from newly unemployed individuals to senior citizens on fixed incomes and grandparents raising grandchildren. Over the course of the event, participants will be asked to navigate four 15-minute intervals, each representing one week of life with limited resources and difficult choices.
Participants will interact with a variety of service stations — including a bank, employer, utility company, grocery store, child care provider, and health center — and must decide how to spend their money, meet basic needs, and manage unexpected crises.
“I’d like to have people come out and participate,” said Barbara Button, director of Humanity House, one of the event sponsors. “The idea is to help people understand what it’s like for people in poverty, from a different perspective. Oftentimes, when people think of those in poverty, the picture is very negative. When you sit down and figure out that these are people living in crisis, day-in and day-out, you realize that their skill set is different from that of the average person.”
ACCORDING to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 16% of families in Allen County live below the poverty line — a figure higher than the national average of 11%, which accounts for more than 36.8 million Americans, including 11 million children.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency food pantries in the region and nationwide have seen an increased demand for help, reflecting the deepening need in communities like Allen County.
The simulation is sponsored by the Allen County Multi-Agency Team (ACMAT), Humanity House, and the East-Central Kansas Economic Opportunity Corporation (ECKAN). Those interested in registering can contact Humanity House at 620-380-6664 or visit the Facebook pages for Humanity House and ACMAT for registration links.
“We hope the simulation will help participants see that while the folks who are living in poverty may have a different skill set, they are very intelligent people,” Button said. “Their intelligence is maybe just in a different skill set that, in some cases, is very critical.”
At the conclusion of the simulation, participants will have an opportunity to reflect and share what they learned about the complex and often invisible realities of poverty.
IN ADDITION to organizing the simulation, Humanity House is working to expand local support systems for low-income residents through a proposed new program called “Together We Can.”
Button said she is currently applying for grant funding to bring the 16-week program to Allen County. The course would offer guided discussions and hands-on learning to help individuals move from “just getting by” to “getting ahead.”
“Assuming we get the grant funding, it will be a two-phase program,” Button said. The first segment will be an overview of the book “Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’ By World” by Philip DeVol. The second phase — titled “Staying Ahead” — focuses on work readiness and financial literacy.
While funding for “Together We Can” is not yet secured, Button remains hopeful. “I’m putting everything I can into some grant requests.”
For now, Button and her team encourage the community to take part in the Poverty Simulation to gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to survive when the odds are stacked against you.
“Making sure their child gets something to eat when they have no money. Making sure they have a roof over their head in the face of a job layoff or a job that doesn’t pay a living wage,” said Button. “Many people who live in the middle-class, or even wealth, don’t have those skills. This simulation will help them to better understand the life and decisions of someone living in poverty.”
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