United Way Board Gains New Perspective

I wanted to share a synopsis of a very interesting experience I was part of this week. On September 9, 2008 United Way offered an experience to its Board members that was incredibly rewarding. We utilized the Missouri Community Action Poverty Simulation Program  to deepen our Board's understanding and empathy for the low-income families we aim to serve each and every day. As co-facilitator I had a bird's eye view on the experience that day.

The tool is fantastic. It takes about 2 hours to run through, and it breaks participants up into family units that are demographically and economically representative of an average lower-income family. These families must then work through a simulated month in poverty. The "month" is broken into four 15-minute weeks when families have to go to work, take care of their children, pay for housing and utilities, and seek out social services. As in reality, it's a lot to manage and the participants quickly become anxious and stressed. The overall goal is to bring about a heightened appreciation for the challenges low-income families face in making ends meet and getting ahead.

This was the first time I had ever been part of such an exercise and I found it eye-opening. I work to help low-income families every day, but the simulation even brought me a new appreciation for the day-to-day realities. It was fascinating to see that many participants in the simulation would forget to buy food each week or pay their utility bills. The simulation was simply overwhelming to them and the decisions about what bill to pay with the limited money they had were not clear-cut. The reality is that low-income families are forced to make tough decisions all the time - do I pay my rent on time or cover the cost of child care?

The intention is not for this to perfectly represent what it's like to live at or near the poverty level. Only folks who are confronted by those curcumstances can have a true understanding of the associated stress, financial and logistical challenges, and the juggling of priorities that they undertake. Rather, the simulation succeeds in painting a picture and making all those statistics we hear a little more real.

United Way's hope was to make the work we do a little more real to the generous volunteers who guide our organization. We plan to make this opportunity available to others who weren't able to join us last Tuesday. In closing I ask you, my readers, to tell me about similar experiences you may have had. Are there other ways for us to give people with means to help a glimpse into the lives of low-income families? How do we make these experiences real for them - how can we highlight our similarities above our differences? Your ideas would be helpful as we remain committed to broadening our understanding.