Two poverty simulation events set for November 12

Centerstone, in partnership with Take Action Today and LifeSource Church, will host two poverty simulations on Saturday, November 12 at LifeSource Church, 1011 E. 6^th Street, West Frankfort, Ill.

While there is no charge to attend, registration is required. Refreshments will be provided.

To register as a participant, contact Raney at Kathy.Raney@Centerstone.org.

The first poverty simulation event will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The second event will occur from 2-4:30 p.m. The agenda for each event will be:

• 15 minutes – Check-in, light refreshments, meet and greet
• 15 minutes – Centerstone Connections program
• 15 minutes – Take Action Today
• 15 minutes – Discussion on poverty and the simulation
• 1 hour – Poverty Simulation
• 30 minutes – Debriefing and conclusion

Each simulation event will involve participants taking on roles of families facing a variety of challenging, but typical, circumstances, as well as roles of community resource providers. Some of the scenarios, provided by the Community Action Poverty Simulation, included:

• A single parent with limited resources and no transportation must find a way to get to work and get their child to daycare
• An elderly person must find a way to pay for both utilities and medication
• A young adult must care for siblings while their parent is incarcerated
• An elderly couple must raise their grandchildren and deal with their own health and employment issues

“The simulation allows participants to walk in the shoes of someone who is facing poverty and realize how complex and interconnected issues of poverty really are,” said Kathy Raney, Centerstone’s Connections Care Coordinator. “The event helps break down stereotypes of those experiencing poverty by having the participants momentarily experience the challenges that poverty creates.”

This training is sponsored by Centerstone’s Connections: Home, Recovery and Community program.

Centerstone’s Connections: Connecting with People through Home, Recovery, and Community provides services to individuals, youth-adults, who are Medicaid-eligible and experiencing homelessness and substance use disorders (SUD) or co-occurring disorders (COD) including trauma, PTSD and depression, in Franklin, Jackson, Union and Williamson counties.

Connections provides:

• Housing services, including recovery housing
• Case management
• Evidence-based direct SUD, COD, and trauma treatment
• Assess to federal income supports
• Screenings and assessments
• Individualized and integrated substance use treatment and planning
• Linkages to primary and specialty care
• Peer and wraparound recovery supports such as employment and education services, benefits engagement and enrollment, hepatitis/sexually transmitted infection/HIV screening/education/counseling

For more information about Connections, visit https://bit.ly/CstoneCXN.