Community Action Helps People Make Ends Meet

GD and his wife are both diabetic and with their costly bills struggle to have enough to afford healthy foods. On a regular basis, GD visits Highland County Community Action Organization’s food pantry program for help. The agency changed their intake process for the food assistance program to include a full assessment and realized they could provide more assistance to GD and his wife.

What is the OACAA Poverty Simulation?

Lorie McClain, Program Specialist

The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies’ (OACAA) Poverty Simulation is a walk in another person’s shoes. It’s about sharing experiences and making a connection to the conditions of those in poverty. Give yourself one time in this experience of poverty and it can lead you to a new understanding and renewed dedication to fighting against the ties that bind people to poverty.

During the 2-hour simulation, participants role play one month in the life of a low-income family and aim to provide their family’s most basic needs which include food, clothing, and shelter, while overcoming financial limitations such as unemployment, health issues, housing challenges, food insecurities and other obstacles. Family units interact with resources available in the mock community including banks, grocery stores, community action agencies, Job and Family Services, pawnshops, utilities, employers and more. The simulation occurs over four 15-minute “weeks” and mirrors life below or near the poverty line.

For 46.5 million people in the United States, poverty is not a simulation or game. OACAA’s poverty simulation illustrates the realities of poverty and emphasizes the awareness of policies in your community which hinder individuals from becoming self-sufficient. OACAA hopes this simulation will spark in the participants their desire to volunteer, fund, and initiate innovative ideas that will alleviate poverty and empower low-income families in their communities.

If your agency would like to be equipped to effect change in your area or organization by taking part in an OACAA’s Community Action Poverty Simulation please contact Josh Summer at josh@oacaa.org to check for availability. This simulation requires a large meeting space, 17 volunteers for resources that are available in the “mock community” and can be held with as few as 40 participants and as many as 148. The session includes a forum at which participants can express any misunderstandings they have/had about what it means to live in poverty and reflect on what they have learned.

Community Action Helps People Save Money

Dortha is a single mother of two young children. She has a good job at a local restaurant, but she still struggles to support her family. Sometimes she needs assistance with her utility bills and she couldn’t afford a car.

Community Action Provides Nutrition

Many low-income individuals lack the access or money for fresh, healthy food options. To help combat this problem, the Lancaster Fairfield Community Action Agency (LFCAA) started a Farmer’s Market.  The Farmer’s Market provides low-income people with boxes of fresh produce, including potatoes, carrots, corn, onions, grapes, and more – as well as a loaf of bread and a peach pie.

Community Action Makes a Difference in People's Lives

Kim, a client of Ross County Community Action Commission explains how Community Action made a difference in her life: