An Exercise in Understanding Poverty

This past Monday a group of United Way staff and board members participated in an exercise called a poverty simulation. The basic idea is for participants to gain a sense, even for just a moment, of what life is like for those in our communities who struggle to make ends meet. Every participant is assigned a role to play, whether it is as part of a family unit or a service provider or company.

In preparation for the simulation staff convened to make sure we were ready. We talked about how participants in the families would likely feel very frustrated at times as they attempted to do all the things they needed to in order to be successful. I anticipated that participants may not enjoy the experience while they were in the moment, but did not forsee my own emotional response.

The part I played was the utility collector at the local utility company. My main responsibily was to collect utility payments and hand out shut off notices when they were warranted. I knew going into it, that this would likely be difficult for me, but I found myself being unable to refuse partial payments from the families who came to my desk, even though in reality a utility collector probably would have. It made me think long and hard about something I normally don't-- that the position of the collector is not an easy one either. Even with the biggest heart, the best of intentions, at the end of the day the utility collector has a job to do and likely cannot make the decision to help someone out on their own authority alone either. Like everything else in life, the dispositions of roles cannot be assumed to be black and white; there are many shades of gray.

I left the simulation emotionally stirred, and glad to have experienced it.