• Poverty Simulation Informational Pamphlet Simulation Kits Participants will need to purchase the Poverty Simulation Kit prior to presenting a Poverty Simulation, but not before the training. Kits are $2150.00 plus an $85.00 shipping fee, and include everything necessary to conduct a simulation.
• Community Action Poverty Simulation®. – 13% of poverty or $2,756/yr. Food Stamps and Free School Meals – 130% of poverty or $27,560/yr.

The 'Survive a 'Month' in Poverty' workshop in Traverse City, hosted by the Traverse Bay Poverty Reduction Initiative (PRI), and co-sponsored by Northwestern Michigan College and Michigan State.

What is it like to live in poverty?

During this simulation, participants role-play the lives of low-income families, from single parents caring for their children to senior citizens trying to maintain self-sufficiency on Social Security. The task of each family is to provide food, shelter, and other basic necessities while interacting with various community resources such as a pawn shop, Community Action Agency, community health agency, and much more.
The goal of the simulation is to enable participants to view poverty from different angles in an experiential setting. Participants will begin to understand what life is like with a shortage of money and an abundance of stress and become motivated to be part of the solution to ending poverty in the United States.
As one participant noted, “The simulation made me realize that living in poverty is very stressful. I only had to experience this for about two hours and by the second week, I was ready to give up. We had $10, no job, were losing our house, the pawn shop wouldn’t buy anything from us, and social services were taking to too long to get any money. It is hard to think that our 15 minutes is a normal day for someone in poverty.'

Students, faculty, and staff can sign-up to participate in a poverty simulation— hosted at least once per semester.

Free Poverty Simulation Exercise

Fall Semester Simulation: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 - 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Free Poverty Simulation Online

For More information, contact:

Graduate Assistant for Civic Engagement:
Tayler Morris | tayler.morris@ndsu.edu | 701-231-7350