Trainees Gain Insight Through Challenge

New LEND trainees begin the academic year participating in an intensive two-day orientation, which provides them with an overview of disability fields and research opportunities. Orientation activities emphasize the LEND leadership pillars of patience, flexibility, grace and responsibility. One of those activities is the annual Poverty Simulation.

During this simulation, trainees work together as members of families who must navigate the challenges of providing for their loved ones with very limited resources. The exercise simulates a month in the lives of these family members, with activities and tasks to complete in a series of four, 15-minute “weeks.”

The families face struggling to put food on the table for their kids or keeping a roof of their heads. Getting a job or keeping a job. Making enough to pay for car repairs so they can make it to work. Knowing time may run out before they can complete their weekly simulation tasks heightens the challenge of the experience.

In 2026, there were 62 total participants, including 23 LEND trainees. CDD staff, and their family members and friends, joined the exercise to operate the community agencies and resources available to simulation participants. At the end of the exercise, trainees contributed to a robust and frank discussion about the experience, the first of many expected throughout the LEND year.