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Mission Waco
1315 N. 15th St.

Waco, TX, 76707

Empowering the Poor and Marginalized

www.missionwaco.org

"I got to experience Waco from

a whole other perspective by
seeing how diverse it is and
through learning about poverty.
The poverty simulation provided
me with an incredible firsthand
account of what people who are
homeless go through
everyday."

-Carly Kloack, Baylor

University junior

One Weekend Gives Baylor Student New perspective on poverty

I learn the best by doing,
said Baylor University junior Carly
Kloack. The Poverty Simulation
opened my eyes in a way a classroom
never could.
Like many students at Baylor
University, Kloack grew up in a steadyincome family in a wealthy suburb of
Denver. In an upbringing surrounded
by affluence, her perspective of poverty
was minimal and unknowledgeable. It
was through her Poverty in Waco class
at Baylor University that she heard of
the Poverty Simulation program and
became eager to register.
I was excited to learn more
about poverty and see it firsthand, she
said. But I didnt know what to
expect.
Before arrival, participants are
told to bring a sleeping bag, a pillow
and a good attitude. Students sleep
outside (regardless of weather
conditions) and have minimal access to
food. The weekend opens the eyes of
participants who often are oblivious to
the marginalized people in Waco who
live in this reality.

I got to experience Waco

from a whole other perspective,
Kloack said. The poverty simulation
provided me with an incredible
firsthand account of what people who
are homeless go through everyday.

The Poverty Simulation gives

students an opportunity to experience
poverty for themselves. Janet Dorrell
said that the Poverty Simulation is truly
a life-changing weekend.

Baylor University student,

Mayra Porras, participated in the
Poverty Simulation along with Kloack,
and recalled how the event opened up
both of their hearts in deeper
compassion for the impoverished.

The expected outcome of the

weekend is for participants to
understand poverty--the condition of
having no money, goods or support
with no power of accessthrough
simulation that brings compassion, she
said. Compassion brings new insight
and purpose to life.

There was one day when we

had no food to eat, and we had to go
out into the Waco community to see if
someone would invite us into their
home or give us some food, Porras
said. I think the best thing I got out of
the poverty simulation was realizing
that I take too many things for
granted.

The Poverty Simulation begins

on Friday at 8 p.m. and runs through
Sunday at 3 p.m. The program will be
running two more times this semester,
on Oct. 24-26 and Nov. 7-9. Mission
Waco is located at 628 N. 15th St.
Waco, TX 76707.

The program began in 1986 when CoFounders of Mission Waco, Janet

Dorrell and Jimmy Dorrell, were
concerned for the students involved in
the youth group they had been leading
at that time. They worried that the
students were not actively applying the
scripture to their daily lives.

For more information on how

to register, visit
www.missionwaco.org/povertysimulation