Eliberto Mendoza, division manager of Boulder County Community Action Programs, does a poverty simulation every year for the volunteers in the Circles program, that pairs “leaders” in the community – those in need – with “allies” who work with them on the goals they set.
The Circle leaders, who experience the difficulties of poverty, pose as social workers in various agencies, bankers, homeless shelter employees, pawn shop owners and others.
“We tell the Circle leaders, ‘Treat people as you have been treated,’” said Mendoza, who is also a Community Foundation Trustee.
Each ally experiences a taste of going through the various agencies and businesses necessary to try to make ends meet.
“What the middle class fails to understand is that being poor is a full-time job,” Mendoza said. “One of our past Circle leaders (commented on) how dehumanizing it is to share your story with so many people you don’t know.”
Christina Pacheco Sims, division manager of Children, Youth and Families for the city of Longmont, said that just providing the most basic needs for your family can be exhausting and consuming.
“I think it goes back to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,” Pacheco Sims said. “In theory, it sounds great to say everybody should go back to high school or college. If your children are hungry, (feeding them is) going to be your primary concern.”
