The Poverty Simulation is an experiential event that helps participants understand the daily challenges faced by people living with limited resources, increasing empathy and awareness of community needs. Four Rivers Healthy Community has organized the simulation twice, nearly a decade apart — in 2017 and again in 2025.
About the Simulation
4RHC’s event is based on the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS), an interactive exercise developed by Missouri Community Action Network. Participants take on roles as members of low-income families and navigate a simulated month — securing food, transportation, and housing, managing chronic illness, and meeting work and school obligations — to experience firsthand the daily stress families in poverty face. A typical simulation runs 2–4 hours, involves up to 26 families role-playing alongside volunteers staffing community resource stations (bank, school, social services, grocery store, and more), and closes with a guided debrief connecting the experience to opportunities for local action.
CAPS traces back to the 1970s, when a St. Louis community group called Reform Organization of Welfare (ROWEL) created an early “welfare simulation” to illustrate the challenges of living on a limited welfare budget. Missouri Community Action Network acquired the program in 2002 and has updated it since (2007, 2012) to reflect current social services.
Event History
2025
Held September 24, 2025, the day before the Four Rivers Healthy Community Conference. The event drew 125 attendees and was reported as a great turnout. Afterward, the board followed up with a letter to organizations that expressed interest in contributing to 4RHC, and discussed adjustments to catering for future events.
2017
Held October 6, 2017 at the Four Rivers Cultural Center, 8:00am–3:00pm, with an afternoon planning and debrief session. The event was introduced to the board by guest Carlos Soriano and aimed for 80–100 participants, relying on community volunteers to staff roles such as bankers, social service workers, and school officials.
A New Simulation Coming Soon
4RHC is planning another Poverty Simulation in the near future. See the current project page for details as they’re confirmed.
This is a historical page. It documents past editions of the Poverty Simulation (2017 and 2025). For a full record of 4RHC’s past initiatives, visit our Historical Projects page.