Our ChanceTn Hosts Poverty Simulator for Partner Meeting
Building Empathy Through Professional Development: Poverty Simulation for Community Partners
In recognition of Poverty Awareness Month, the Martha O’Bryan Center partnered with the Tennessee Alliance for Economic Mobility (TAEM) to host a poverty simulation training designed as professional development for community partners.
Held off-site at Trevecca Community Church, the simulation was facilitated by the UT-TSU Extension offices of Rutherford and Trousdale counties and invited partner organizations to step into the lived realities of families navigating poverty. Participants were grouped into simulated households and worked through real-world challenges such as securing housing, childcare, transportation, employment, and education — all while balancing limited resources and time.
This hands-on experience offered partners a deeper understanding of the daily barriers many caregivers face long before they seek services. By experiencing these pressures firsthand, participants gained insight that can strengthen empathy, inform practice, and enhance the way organizations show up for families across Middle Tennessee.
"Sometimes you forget firsthand what they're facing when they leave your office or the challenges that they've had before they even walk into your office," said Sandi Cummings, TAEM Childcare Navigation Manager and Professional Development Lead.
Partners walked away with a renewed sense of how to meet caregivers where they are, with empathy and understanding.
Irene Jackson, a family-centered coach with Workforce Essentials, Inc, recounts how she could feel the pressure of the everyday situations and decisions that caregivers face, and how all the while she had to attempt to stay calm. To read more about how the simulation worked and how are partners learned from the simulator,
Our ChanceTN is a part of a study funded by the Tennessee Department of Human Services which is being conducted to determine how these pilot programs help people improve their economic well-being. During the study, all new eligible applicants will be randomly selected into one of two/three groups that receive a different mix of program services.
The Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative (TOPI) is brought forth by the Tennessee Department of Human Services and TANF Opportunity Act. This initiative will help individuals, families, and the state of Tennessee by creating a new vision for the Tennessee social safety net and is dedicated to helping low-income families grow beyond their vulnerabilities. TOPI empowers all Tennesseans by partnering with local organizations to reach deep into their communities and work shoulder to shoulder with individuals and families, growing their capacity to take on life’s challenges and reduce their dependence on the social safety net.