Convening

Step Up Silicon Valley educates the community about the realities of local poverty, along with the programs and initiatives aimed at reducing poverty. SUSV conducts ongoing Community Action Poverty Simulations (CAPS) as its primary awareness change tool. CAPS is a unique tool experience that educates everyone from policy makers to community leaders about the day-to-day realities of life with a shortage of money and an abundance of stress. During a simulation, participants role-play the lives of low-income families. Each “family” must find food, shelter, and other basic necessities while interacting with various “community resources” represented by volunteers who are themselves from low-income families. Following a recent simulation hosted by SUSV, one participant said, “The Poverty Simulation teaches empathy, and that goes a long way toward building a community of anti-poverty activists.”

COMMUNITY ACTION POVERTY SIMULATIONS (CAPS)

CAPS is an educational tool recreating the day-to-day realities of living in poverty in Santa Clara County. During the simulation, participants role-play the lives of low-income families. The task of each family is to provide food, shelter, and other basic necessities while interacting with various community resources staffed by low-income volunteers.

KEY PARTNERS

Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County
Jewish Community Relations Council of Silicon Valley
Presbytery of San Jose
Sacred Heart Community Service

NEXT STEPS

We seek to engage the community at an even higher level. Our next goal is to bring the educational experience that CAPS offers to corporations and younger generations in order to imbue a greater understanding of the challenges that most vulnerable individuals in our community face.