Simulator Gives People New Perspective On Poverty

from KDKA

(KDKA) PITTSBURGH A local group has come up with a unique way to educate the public about what it's like to be poor so they can help find solutions to this growing problem.

The group, Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners, is sponsoring a series of "poverty simulations" to give people a new perspective on the daily struggles that the working poor can face.

"The purpose of our simulation is to educate people about the issues facing the working poor," explains PSVP's Terry Beggy. "It's called a poverty simulation and you go through about a month in the life of an individual who is surviving poverty."

Tim Aldinger has a good job with the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board. Though he's never been poor, he wanted to take part in the project to better understand the challenges some of his clients face.

"I think it's gonna help me as a professional that works in a social service kind of atmosphere to better serve the clients in the end," Aldinger told KDKA.

During the simulation, Aldinger is assigned a "persona." In this case, he's unemployed with a wife and three school-aged kids to support.

Each 15 minute session is meant to simulate one day filled with the kind of red tape that often dogs the working poor.

After a long, frustrating day, Beggy says the attendees leave with lessons that will last a lifetime.

"We do an online survey of the participants after it's over," Beggy adds, "and they've told us that they've had some visceral reactions that they never thought they would... So they believe that they are getting some insight into what it must be like for those individuals."