Information for Volunteers

Information provided at a later date.

Volunteers should park in one of the free visitor parking lots. The simulation will be held in Cook Hall which is one the second floor of the NEW Center. You may take the stairs or the elevator to your right as you enter the NEW Center.

Persons recruited as volunteer staffers are asked to think about the role they might like
to fill. Staffers may have had personal experiences that enable them to be especially
effective in portraying a given role. Realistic portrayals contribute greatly to the
success of the experience.

The following staffers are essential and must be staffed for every simulation: police
officer, utility collector, pawnbroker, grocer, mortgage/rent collector, Quik Cash
manager, two social service caseworkers, a social service receptionist, Community
Action worker, employer, child care worker, schoolteacher, faith based agency staffer,
community health care staff, and bank/loan collector. The caseworkers will need to
have some command of pertinent facts and information. Familiarity or experience with
a local social service office is highly desirable. If possible, the Community Action
worker should be someone who has had real-life experience in this role.

It is essential that the facilitator meet with the volunteer staffers for an orientation prior
to the simulation being conducted. An overview of the simulation will be given at that
time, assigned roles and responsibilities will be agreed upon, and instruction packets
will be given to each staffer.

At the end of the simulation, staffers will be asked to comment on the simulation
experience. This could include a summary of how the participants reacted to the
staffer’s role, comments about the participants’ ability to cope in the State of Poverty
during this “month,” previous experiences or special information or facts which the
staffer may have that could reinforce the realities of living in poverty, how it feels for
the staffer to be “on the other side of the table” during this simulation, and whether or
not there was a perceptible change of attitude on the part of the participants during the
simulation.

Copyright 1987, 2003, 2007, 2011 Missouri Community Action Network (Missouri CAN) in 2016 REV. 03/16