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Crisis Assistance Ministry

Crisis Assistance Ministry

Charlotte, NC

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Transforming a Skeptic

I’m skeptical when I hear people talk about life-altering, perspective-shifting experiences. So, when I came home to tell my roommate that I had just experienced one of the most powerful and transformative two hours of my life, I recognized the incredulous face looking back at me.

April 29, 2019

By Kara Miller

I’m skeptical when I hear people talk about life-altering, perspective-shifting experiences. I’m especially skeptical when these experiences are brief. That semester changed my life. Or, That week made such an impact on how I view the world. Those statements just seem hollow to me somehow. So, when I came home to tell my roommate that I had just experienced one of the most powerful and transformative two hours of my life, I recognized the incredulous face looking back at me.

This two-hour experience was a Poverty Simulation organized by Crisis Assistance Ministry. A Poverty Simulation is a facilitated immersive experience designed to create awareness among participants of life at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. Participants are assigned to “families” who do their best to survive week-to-week over a simulated one-month period. The simulation presents participants with real-life scenarios and challenges faced by people living in poverty.

The concept didn’t seem foreign to me. I grew up playing simulation computer games like the Oregon Trail. I figured I was pretty decent at guiding my party of settlers from Missouri all the way across the Oregon Trail in 1848, so navigating a month in current-day America shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.

On the day of the simulation, chairs in the gym at Providence Presbyterian were organized in clusters representing different houses, and tables were stationed in a large square around the room with signs like, “Bank,” “Utilities,” “Pawn Shop,” and “Homeless Shelter.” Volunteers were already in position behind the tables while participants descended on the chairs that determined our characters and sorted us into families.

In my seat, a nametag read: Betty Boling, age 39. I felt a small twinge of stress as I looked around my family’s nametags to see my three children aged 8, 10 and 16 (the 16-year-old pregnant and due in two months), and my unemployed husband. The twinge pushed forcefully into my upper back as I discovered my $9/hour salary wouldn’t even come close to covering our growing family’s bills.

The facilitator explained we would be attempting to make it through one month as a family, that each 15 minutes would represent a week, and that during our three-minute weekends, all businesses would be closed. Feeling the sweat start to form, I clumsily, hastily, frantically shuffled through all the documents I needed to take to different service providers as I thought: “Can I make it to the grocery store before work?” “Where does my husband need to go to get a job?” “Can my pregnant daughter get my other children to school?” “If I can’t pay all our utilities, which ones can we go without?”

Thoughts that, as a single 26-year-old, I have never had to think in my life. Questions that I didn’t have the time or knowledge to answer.

As I sprinted through the simulation, each weekend came sooner than anticipated and brought notice upon notice upon notice of the tasks I had failed to complete. After our second week, I failed to pay our mortgage (I’d left the bank with just enough money in hand only to be met with the closing bell as I came to a sliding stop in front of the Mortgage Company), and we were evicted. When we realized there was no room for us at the homeless shelter, it was my 16-year-old (a real-life 39-year-old mother) who suggested we sleep for the night in our family car. A car that was a huge luxury in our neighborhood.

Over the course of the simulation, we had more luck. My employer released us early one day and I was able to run the errands I needed to get by for that week. My husband was able to find employment after the first week, which almost doubled our family income. The cop who caught my kids running around when they were supposed to be in school decided not to arrest them. But, even with the luck of the draw, I could feel my normally bubbly personality slowly slipping away. I didn’t have time or energy to smile at the service providers; I was doing well to just get what I needed and get out. I didn’t have the time or energy for my kids; my daughter started dating a drug dealer and I had absolutely no idea. I didn’t have the time or energy to do anything other than barely–barely–get by.

When the final bell rang, I could have cried. For the first time since the simulation began, I let myself feel how tired I was. I became aware that I was sweating and hungry and scowling. After just an hour walking in Betty’s shoes, I felt such a relief to just be done. With the ringing of a bell, I was 26 again and 5,000 pounds lighter.

After the exercise, we debriefed as a group. We reflected, discussed insights, and considered next steps. One gentleman noted how pure desperation made it easy to think only about yourself. Another woman whose simulation experience ran parallel to her own life appreciated the accuracy of the hour. We all nodded when the facilitator summed up the greatest takeaway of the afternoon: “It’s the system that is broken; not the striver.”

Thanks to Crisis Assistance Ministry, I experienced one of the most powerful, impactful, and transformative two hours of my life. I don’t look at the world the same way. I don’t see people the same way.

Incredulous? Try it yourself.

Sign up for our next open enrollment Poverty Simulation session, co-hosted by the Charlotte Women’s March and Habitat for Humanity Charlotte on May 9, 2019.


Kara Miller joined the staff of Crisis Assistance Ministry in April. As part of her employee orientation process, she participated for the first time in the agency’s Poverty Simulation, an education experience created by the Missouri Community Action Network which deepens understanding of the realities facing families living in poverty.

Filed Under: Advocacy Tagged With: Civic Education, Missouri Community Action Network, Poverty, Poverty Simulation, Providence Presbyterian Church

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Crisis Assistance Ministry

Preventing homelessness.
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  • Main Office:
    500-A Spratt St.
    Charlotte, NC 28206
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The ONE Charlotte Health Alliance mobile unit will be back onsite Wednesday AND Thursday this week. Wednesday (9 am to 4 pm) will focus on Free HIV Testing, and Thursday (10 am to 3 pm) will include a variety of health screenings.
No appointment is necessary.

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Crisis Assistance Ministry is closed today to observe Juneteenth. But the question remains: while Juneteenth commemorates the arrival of legal emancipation for formerly enslaved people, when will we loose the chains of economic disparity and move our community toward a place of equity? Read more in today's blog at the link in our bio.

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Crisis Assistance Ministry will be closed on Monday, June 20, 2022, in observance of Juneteenth. Typical business hours will resume on Tuesday, June 21.

crisisassistmin

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Help us spread the word that NC kids under 18 can get free meals all summer long.  To find a site nearby, Just text FOOD or COMIDA to 304-304  or visit @nokidhungrync online. No ID or registration is needed, children and teens ages 18 and younger just need to show up. 

FREE: Meals are free to children and teens ages 18 and younger who come to a summer meals site.
SAVE MONEY: Free summer meals will help families save money and stretch their already tight food budgets.
NUTRITIOUS: Food served at summer meal sites follows USDA nutrition guidelines and is paid for by the USDA.
SAFE: Summer meal sites are safe places for kids and teens to go, such as schools, churches, and community centers.
FUN: Many sites offer educational and recreational activities that kids of all ages can participate in so they can eat, hang out with friends and take part in activities offered.
NO ID, NO REGISTRATION: Parents don’t need to apply to the program to get a free summer meal for their kids. Children simply need to come to a summer meals site in their community and enjoy a healthy meal without the hassle of having to fill out an application or enroll in a program. No ID or registration is needed.

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This week, we welcome back @CROSSMissions which brings youth from across the Southeast 🚌✈️to Charlotte to learn and serve. In just 3 days, they assembled 43 fleece blankets for families who shop in our Free Store for essentials. These kiddos are some of our favorite #volunteers every summer!

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We are so excited to welcome @oneclthealth to our location at 500-A Spratt St in #CLT this Thursday, June 9 from 10a to 3p. No appointments are needed and you do not have to be a @CrisisAssistMin customer to visit for free blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol checks.

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The unofficial start to summer is upon us. School is almost over. Temps are high. For many, it is a time of family fun. But, sometimes summer also brings more challenges. What challenges are you navigating this summer?

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2/2 “Who knew that my encounter with Crisis Assistance would be the catalyst to relaunch me? To shake me out of a depression and a sense of loss, so that I could once again become a part of the helping community?” ~ Deborah

After resolving her crisis and completing an 8-week course to become a Customer Advocate, Deborah began volunteering—sharing her time, expertise, and her own experiences. When COVID changed things for everyone, she found a new way to share through Virtual Poverty Simulations which present participants with an online simulation highlighting the difficult choices families are often forced to make when struggling with limited financial resources. The discussion expands when customer advocates like Deborah share their personal struggles and experiences.

“It’s so important that participants see and hear the real, lived experiences of their neighbors,” says civic engagement manager Bonnie Tiernan, who leads the one-to-two-hour virtual experiences. “Advocates like Deborah help us bring the statistics to life by sharing their own struggles and successes in a powerful way.”

(Read the full story in "Deborah: Growing Stronger" at the link in our bio)

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"The more I share, the stronger I become. The story no longer has power over me. I have power over it."~ Deborah, mother, daughter, caregiver, and advocate

1/2: When we last looked in on Deborah, she was emerging from a time of crisis with a renewed sense of her purpose. After watching dementia slowly take her mother, battling her own depression, and ultimately retiring due to health difficulties, the master’s prepared social worker found herself somewhere she never imagined: sitting across the desk from another social worker, seeking help to dig herself out. Looking back, she remembers being met with kindness, concern, and hope.

“Who knew that my encounter with Crisis Assistance would be the catalyst to relaunch me? To shake me out of a depression and a sense of loss, so that I could once again become a part of the helping community?”
(Read the full story in "Deborah: Growing Stronger" at the link in our bio)

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