This fall, the diocese will host a Poverty Simulation. It is a way to understand, in a microcosm, what life is like when you are impoverished. The goal of the simulation is to increase awareness, understanding and create change.
In Philadelphia and surrounding communities, poverty remains a heartbreaking and intractable reality for far too many. One in four families in Philadelphia live in poverty—the highest rate among the 10 most populous cities in the U.S. And in communities throughout our diocese, pockets of poverty endure. Research links poverty to exposure to violent crime, inadequate access to education and health care, and increased incidence of physical and emotional traumas. Poverty also is intrinsically linked to homelessness, which is driven by the opioid epidemic, domestic violence, mental illness, young people aging out of foster care, and lack of affordable housing.
As a participant in the Poverty Simulation, your simulated "community" is a large room inside Bishop McDevitt High School. You and your neighbors' "homes" are chairs in the center. The services you need like banks, schools and grocery stores are tables that line the perimeter of the room.
This event is in partnership with Bucks County Opportunity Council, which has a mission to reduce poverty and partner with the community to promote economic self-sufficiency.
Register now. If you would like to volunteer for the event, please contact me.
