AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Folks from businesses and organizations in Amarillo, Canyon, and Perryton role-played the lives of low-income families. They had to figure out how to get to work, pay for day care and groceries, and how to interact with service agencies, pawn-brokers, and bill collectors on a limited budget.

"We use the real social service agencies so that Congressman Mac Thornberry's office is represented, the Texas Work Force Solutions is represented, you know the real police department is represented so they get a really good taste of the different things out there," said Sharon Minor, the Executive Director of Leadership Amarillo & Canyon.

In Potter and Randall counties there are more than 36,000 individuals living in poverty. The hope is that this simulation will help leaders understand the frustrations with living in poverty-day-today.

"So that's the main thing we are trying to do is just create an awareness because we're not necessary trying to chance anything that anybody does, but if we change the way they think they will change the things that they do," said Minor.

But does just two hours of simulation really help? "We have seen results that it has significantly changed their awareness. There are a lot of folks that believe in the boot-strap theory and that everybody can pull themselves up by their boot-straps, but even if they have to participate for a very short period of time, we've have participants go from realizing how much time it takes, how much energy," said Lessa Wood Calvin, from the Texas AgriLife Extension Center of Randall County.   Energy hopefully that will be put back into the community.  The leadership groups also toured the food bank during their trip along with Faith City Mission and the Guyon Saunders Resource center.