Poverty and Technology as 2012 Dawns
Have you ever participated in a poverty simulation? If not, I highly recommend it. My wife and I are fortunate to have a friend and fellow Rotarian, Betsy Rozelle with CAP Services, who provides these simulations here in Northeast Wisconsin and so we went at our first opportunity.
We spent just over three hours on the Lawrence University campus one night this past November with roughly 70 other people. Some of these were professors or administrators with the university but most were students who wanted to learn more about poverty. Kudos to those students who participated. This experience will change their lives forever. Out of the 70 participants, most were individuals like us who came to learn. A select few acted as community resources. They were trained in advance of the simulation.
As participants arrived, we were given roles to play during the simulation. Each person “became” an adult in a “family”. Each family “came with” a packet which contained a profile, a set of assets and a budget. No two profiles were the same. Around the edges of the large room where the simulation was held were community resources, such as a bank, a school, a couple of agencies, a workplace, and many others. Each of these resources were staffed by one or more people. (more…)














