YORK, Pa. — Community Progress Council of York County (CPC) and York Habitat for Humanity have partnered together to provide a poverty simulation for community leaders in York County.
The simulation puts leaders in the shoes of low-income families who face economic and personal hardships so leaders have a better understanding of poverty and how they can help.
“So they are family and then tasked with getting to work, getting their kids to school, paying their utilities, their mortgage, their groceries, all the things that low-income families face,” said Sarah Chain, director of communications and marketing at CPC.
The simulation is to not be considered a game but rather a way to bridge the gap from misconception to understanding and promote poverty awareness. CPC’s mission is to offer resources and support for individuals and families to move toward economic self-sufficiency. York Habitat for Humanity’s mission is to build safe, decent, affordable homes for people who qualify in York. Organizers hope this partnership will help reach the people who are in need.
"We have about 70 people attending tonight who are going to hear what CPC is doing for the community and also understand why Habitat ties into CPC and vice versa,” said Natasha Kurkorlo, executive director of York Habitat for Humanity.
She added, “The financial literacy courses that we require of our homeowners are so important. Everybody that we’re meeting with tonight gets to experience a simulation and will understand what we’re doing in the community and who they can send our way so that we can help more people.”
The poverty simulation also provides a scenario that people are undergoing right now with inflation, economic hardships and market drops. One scenario would be an individual who is juggling finding work, paying rent and bills, affording childcare and losing their primary breadwinner. The goal of the simulation is to walk the shoes of someone living in poverty and provide solutions to help an individual out of it.
“We actually have something called luck of the draw cards, and you could see inflation may be a part of that—things that you’re not planning for that pop up that you need to address in your everyday opportunity for participants to kind of understand, and how do you address that? What can you do to make things work,” said Chain.
Community leaders including board members, nonprofits, faith-based organizations and business members from York County will take part in the poverty simulator. Information and details for people who need help and access to resources can be found here.