What would you do if you had to choose between paying rent or feeding your children?
That’s not a hypothetical. For many families in our North Georgia community, these decisions are made daily—under pressure, without support, and with devastating consequences.
At Ministries of Grace, we believe the first step toward solving poverty is understanding it. That’s why we created Walk in Their Shoes—an interactive tool designed to help you experience the impossible choices families face every day. Because once you’ve walked a mile in someone else’s shoes, you can never see the world the same way again.
What Is Walk in Their Shoes?
Walk in Their Shoes is an interactive quiz that places you in the shoes of someone facing food insecurity and poverty. You’ll navigate seven real-life scenarios, each requiring you to make painful decisions from limited and often heartbreaking options. After each choice, you’ll discover the ripple effect—how one decision leads to unexpected consequences that compound stress, financial hardship, and emotional strain.
This experience was built on real cases our social workers encounter every day. It’s not just a teaching tool—it’s a reality check.
Why We Created It
Every week, our Social Services Department meets families on the edge of crisis. From elderly grandparents caring for children to young parents facing layoffs and medical bills, we’ve seen firsthand how fragile life can be when you’re one setback away from losing everything.
We built Walk in Their Shoes to answer a question we hear all the time:
“What can I do to help?”
Start by understanding. Then take action.
Here’s What You’ll Experience
Choose Your Story
You’ll begin by stepping into the shoes of one of four personas—each based on the lived experiences of families served by Ministries of Grace:
- A Single Parent Trying to Provide
Struggling to cover rent, utilities, food, and school supplies while raising children and trying to keep a job. - An Elderly Individual on a Fixed Income
Battling health issues and choosing between medication or meals as prices rise and resources dwindle. - An Elderly Grandparent Caring for a Grandchild
Raising a child during retirement years, balancing your own health with the growing needs of a young life depending on you. - A Caregiver Facing a Medical Crisis
Watching your spouse suffer from terminal illness while caring for children and fighting to keep your family afloat—financially, emotionally, and physically.
Each journey includes 7 difficult scenarios—real questions our neighbors face. Your decisions reveal the complex web of consequences that make escaping poverty so difficult without support.
The Heart Behind The Walk In Their Shoes Tool
Walk in Their Shoes was born out of our goal to bring Food, Hope, and Transformation to families in need.
This tool is a reflection of how Ministries of Grace operates:
- With compassion — because many of us have been there
- With community — because no one can thrive alone
- With purpose — because every family deserves a path toward self-sufficiency
At Ministries of Grace, we create customized care plans that help families move from survival to stability and—eventually—to thriving. That journey begins with awareness.
Ready to Walk With Us?
Take the quiz. Share it. Talk about it.
Whether you’re a parent, student, business leader, or pastor—this experience will challenge your assumptions and stir your compassion.
And when you’re ready to take the next step?
Be the Change
No one chooses poverty. But we can all choose to understand it—and respond with action. Walk in Their Shoes is your invitation to stop seeing poverty as someone else’s problem and start becoming part of the solution.
Together, we can bring food, hope, and transformation to every family who needs it.
‘If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?’
James 2:15-16
