Community leaders participate in poverty simulation – News – Times Telegram – Herkimer, NY UTICA About 100 community leaders participated in a realistic poverty simulation at Mohawk Valley Community College on Friday.Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, hosted the event with Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, the United Way of the Valley and Greater Utica Area and the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties.The simulation was part of the Mohawk Valley Anti-Poverty Initiative, a community collaboration that is working to combat the problem of poverty using a variety of resources.Participants were assigned a scenario, such as being a single parent or being unemployed, and given an hour to experience a typical month in the lives of people in poverty for various reasons.”It is important for participants in the Anti-Poverty group to really understand what it’s like for somebody in need to have to make important choices in their life with limited income,” Brindisi said in a news release.The assemblyman said he learned a lot from the experience.”I participated in a very realistic simulation that included long lines at social service agencies, where the choices I had to make were often very difficult,” he said. Participants in today’s program probably will never look at these issues in the same way.”Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency and their certified Bridges Out of Poverty team helped to facilitate the program.The poverty simulation raises awareness and understanding of the struggles faced by low-income families and individuals by asking participants to make hard decisions with limited resources. They also provide an opportunity to highlight the work of many in the community to assist low-income individuals.Participants received packets at the start of the exercise containing their assigned family scenario; transportation passes; appliances and assets and a limited amount of money.With each 15 minutes of the simulation representing one week, the families visit volunteer-staffed tables representing banks, schools, grocery stores, pawn shops, government service agencies, employers, shelters and community organizations.The participants’ goal is to pay bills, find or maintain shelter and employment and care for their families, while navigating expected and unexpected hurdles.A media advisory from Brindisi’s office about the event stated, “no matter our income level, most of us encounter poverty on a daily basis. mainImageContainerInnerHTML += ”+mainImageData_credit+”; mainImageContainerInnerHTML_sm += ”+mainImageData_credit+”; mainImageContainerInnerHTML_sm += ”+mainImageData_caption+”; $(‘#art-main-image-credit-container_sm’).css(‘width’,smimgwidth).css(‘padding’,’3px ‘+(mainImageData_leftPadding – 3)+’px 0 0’); $(‘#art-main-image-caption-container_sm’).css(‘width’,sm_img.width).css(‘padding’,’5px 0 0 ‘+(mainImageData_leftPadding + 3)+’px’); $(‘#art-main-image-caption-container’).css(‘width’,img.width).css(‘padding’,’5px 0 0 ‘+mainImageData_leftPadding+’px’); $(‘#art-main-image-credit-container’).css(‘width’,img.width).css(‘padding’,’5px ‘+(mainImageData_leftPadding)+’px 0 0’);