The Aberdeen Diversity Coalition will host a community action poverty simulation on Wednesday, Sept. 27.
The simulation provides participants with the opportunity to assume the role of a low-income family member living on a limited budget. The event is divided into four 15-minute sessions, each of which represents one week during which participants must provide for their family and maintain their home, according to a news release about the event.
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Including introduction, briefing, the simulation exercise and discussion, the event will last two and a half to three hours.
The simulation will be from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Aberdeen Area, 1121 1st Ave, S.E. There’s a cap of 80 participants. Register at tinyurl.com/3swe4ft8.
Simulation designed to help participants what it’s like to live in poverty
“The poverty simulation experience is designed to help participants begin to understand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income family trying to survive from month to month,” according to the release.
According to statistics from the Aberdeen Diversity Coalition:
- Some 111,000 South Dakotans, more than a third of whom are children under the age of 18, live in poverty every day.
- Estimates for Aberdeen suggest poverty affects more than 3,500 residents.
“The poverty simulation experience is designed to help participants begin to understand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income family trying to survive from month to month,” according to the release.
Lunch will not be provided, but light snacks will be served near the end of the simulation.