Partners Health Management Helps Surry County Leaders Step into the Shoes
of Neighbors Living in Poverty During Immersive Simulation
People who live below the poverty line often must make impossible choices between necessities like food, medicine and housing.
To help Surry County community leaders, stakeholders and advocates understand what it is like to live in poverty, Partners Health Management held a Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) this week at the Reeves Community Center in Mount Airy, N.C. The event, designed to bridge the gap between misconception and the lived reality of low-income families, challenged participants to navigate a month of poverty in just a few hours.
Approximately 16.5% of Surry County residents live below the poverty line, according to the 2022 Surry County Health Assessment, placing the county’s rate noticeably above the North Carolina state average of 12.5%. While it is not the highest in the state, Surry County faces significantly more economic hardship than the state baseline and sits in stark contrast to North Carolina’s more prosperous or metro-adjacent areas.
The simulation provided a vital, boots-on-the-ground look at the systemic barriers families face daily. By compressing a full month into four fast-paced, 15-minute rounds, the simulation forces participants into a race against the clock. Attendees must juggle competing demands and limited resources, including their own time—while attempting to navigate banks, employers, social service agencies, healthcare providers, and utility companies just to meet their family’s basic needs.
The interactive simulation also highlighted the complex and often frustrating nature of the community resources meant to help. One participant, reflecting on the challenges of navigating the system, noted, “As an advocate and engagement specialist, we help people navigate the healthcare system and resources in the community. I’m actually the one giving out the resources and telling you where to go… [but] everybody would be strapped for cash.”
The simulation’s “social services desk” proved to be one of the most eye-opening stations, exposing the rigid administrative hurdles that often prevent families from getting immediate help.
“When you’re at the social services desk, people come in to get food… and you have to say, ‘Hey, you’ve got to wait two weeks,’” said Partners Member Engagement Specialist Ann Gluf who was assigned that role in the simulation. “You didn’t get here in time, and you’ve been here for four weeks, and I can’t even give you anything…It was hard. I felt sad because I wanted to do more, but I knew I could only do what was on this card at that specific time.”
Partners Member Engagement Specialist Timothy Simmons was assigned to play a doctor in the simulation. He noted the difficulties individuals faced in getting the care they need. His pretend patients (simulation participants) frequently had to choose between getting prescriptions and taking care of immediate family needs. These participants were given scenarios to act out with limitations on their available resources. Many did not pick up prescriptions or follow through on appointments – often due to lack of transportation or an inability to afford copays, Simmons said. “That’s a reality for a lot of people,” he added. Not one group could pull it together to get groceries and their prescriptions for the entire month.
For many attendees, the experience served as a stark reminder that even well-intentioned systems can become insurmountable barriers for those in crisis. “The goal of the Partners Community Engagement Training Team in hosting these simulations is to inspire local change, foster deep empathy, and transform perspectives on how Surry County can better support its most vulnerable members,” said Partners Community Engagement Training Manager and simulation facilitator Amber Matthews.
ABOUT PARTNERS
Partners Health Management is a leading local management entity/managed care organization (LME/MCO), providing access to care for individuals in central and western North Carolina with the most complex health care needs. Partners manages Medicaid, state, and local funding for mental health, substance use disorder, intellectual/developmental disabilities, and traumatic brain injury (MH/SUD/IDD/TBI) services in our covered areas. Through the operation of the Partners Tailored Plan, we integrate behavioral health, I/DD, TBI, physical health, and pharmacy services to ensure whole-person care for our members.
Partners is one of four LME/MCOs that are the cornerstone of North Carolina’s public MH/SUD/IDD/TBI managed care system, which is designed to improve quality and timely access to care for individuals and families. Established by the General Assembly in 2011, the LME/MCOs are built on a 50-year legacy of county-area programs with deep local, community roots. The LME/MCOs ensure access to high-quality provider networks, strong community collaboration to support a robust system of care, and budget predictability through the efficient and effective use of public funds and resources.