Registration is now open for a poverty simulation event coming to Auburn next month.
Through a partnership with United Way of Cayuga County, Booker T Washington Community Center, CAP Cayuga/Seneca, and East Hill Medical, the exercise is designed to allow residents to experience what it’s like to live in poverty and inspire empathy and local change.
United Way Executive Director Kathryn Dennis told Finger Lakes News Radio the exercise is meant to highlight the struggles people in the community face.
“It is meant to highlight the struggles that individuals and families face when they have a single income or are working jobs at minimum wage and they just can’t seem to get ahead,” Dennis said.
The program is put together by the New York State Community Action Agency. Participants are either placed into families or go through the exercise as individuals. They will then go through a set of scenarios to see how they do with their income and expenses.
“They can see just how quickly a minimum wage paycheck goes,” Dennis added, “so it’s actually placing them in the role of a family that’s struggling to make ends meet.”
The poverty simulator will be held at the Booker T Washington Center from 8:30a-12:00p on September 13.
Registration is required and that information can be found at caphelps.org.
