Immersive Simulation Shows the Uphill Battle of Poverty

By Tori Young

I had the opportunity to attend the Family Promise “Reignite” Conference this past October in Indianapolis, Indiana. During the conference, I attended many different training sessions related to my role at FPSC and heard an inspiring speech from the keynote speaker, Elizabeth Murray, who is widely known for her journey from homelessness to attending Harvard University and is the inspiration for the Lifetime Original Film Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story.

On Wednesday, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in a Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE), a ThinkTank Experience. COPE is a two-and-a-half-hour simulation that explores the lived experience of poverty firsthand through the eyes of real families. This simulation is a tool that helps individuals and teams deepen their understanding of poverty in America, improve their approaches to better engage with people navigating poverty, and work more effectively with others in the community to develop environments where all people can thrive.

People in poverty lack the basic financial and essential resources they need to live. For a three-person household in the United States the poverty threshold is $24,526 annually, which is about $2,044 a month. Per the MIT Living Wage Calculator, the cost of housing alone for a family of three in Sussex County is $22,275.

The simulation puts participants in situations to approximate the experience of living in poverty for a month. A “week” lasted 15 minutes, and in that week, everyone had specific tasks to complete, such as doctor’s appointments, rent payments, utility payments, and other everyday tasks people needed to complete to survive. The room consisted of “houses” in the middle (with chairs to represent each person in the family) with tables surrounding the room, such as a job table, utility table, bank, transportation, church, jail, and others.

What I loved most about this experience was that every scenario given to the participants came from a real-life experience of an impoverished family. The role I assumed was that of a man who struggles with his sobriety and maintaining employment while trying to support his pregnant wife and 9-year-old son.

I worked full-time at a fast-food restaurant, making $600 a week. My family could not afford a car, so I had to take public transportation or walk to my job. The transportation table gave me a sand timer, and I had to wait till it ran out before I could “transport” to where I needed to go. After the second “week,” I lost my job because I was repeatedly late for work, which resulted in my family having no source of income.

We were also dealt with random life event cards. In my case, my son was suspended from school, my wife was having medical complications with her pregnancy, and not providing for my family led me to break my sobriety and start abusing alcohol and drugs again. We fell behind on our utility bills, and if the simulation had gone on for another week, we would have lost our apartment.

After completing the simulation, we debriefed about what had just happened and some participants who had lived experience with poverty had an emotional reaction to the simulation and needed to step outside to calm down. Other people were angry that this daily struggle is the reality for 36.8 million people in this country.

My takeaway from this experience is that as a society, we need to be supportive, compassionate, and understanding to people living in crisis. These individuals are taking a huge step by asking for help, and it is our responsibility to treat them with dignity and respect.

I am proud to work for an organization like Family Promise of Sussex County because I can help real families in my community stabilize and sustain their lives.

I highly recommend that other nonprofits, service groups, schools, or anyone else research the Cost of Poverty Experience and register for the simulation. Every participant will walk away with a more compassionate mindset, which will transfer to their daily lives.

COPE Link: The Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE) — ThinkTank

About Family Promise of Sussex County

The agency’s mission is to secure housing stability and sustainability for those in crisis…because everyone deserves a home, and our vision that every individual and family shall have a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future. We offer many services and a dedicated team of individuals that are available to assist our clients in attaining these goals. To learn more visit us at https://familypromisesussex.org or our offices in Newton, Sparta and Sussex or contact us at 973-579-1180 or fpsc@familypromisesussex.org.