Several Cobb County nonprofits transformed the upper level of StoneBridge Church in Marietta into a mini-town, complete with a grocery store called Mega Mart, a gas station, a pawn shop and more. Folks who had been strangers moments before settled into seats next to one another, preparing for an hour-long simulation on what it’s like to experience poverty.
Think Tank Inc., a nonprofit based in Ohio, brought the Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE) to Cobb County for the first time on Monday. COPE is an immersive simulation that “explores the lived experience of poverty firsthand through the eyes of real families,” according to their website.
During the simulation, attendees split into groups where they took on identities and financial situations, all based on real low-income families who volunteered to share their stories with Think Tank Inc.
Marlo Fox, Think Tank executive director, gave each person a goal at the beginning of the experience: “Create the highest quality of life that you can for yourself and your family.”
Minutes after the simulation began, it became clear that this was much easier said than done.
The simulation was split into four 15-minute blocks with each block representing one week. Every person had motivations, assignments and tasks to accomplish. In order to get around to the different stations, which represented services or locations one might find in a real city, everyone would have to use either a car, take the bus or walk.
Katharine Hurlburt of Cherokee County and Matt Russell of Paulding County chose the roles of husband and wife. They began the month with $50, an apartment, one car and four additional mouths to feed.
The first barrier they ran into was transportation. With one car to share, Russell dropped Hurlburt off at the Family Wellness Center station while he went on to work, leaving the four remaining members of the family — three children and a grandmother — stuck without transportation.
At the Family Wellness Center, Hurlburt planned to enter a trial program that would pay her $40, but they told her they couldn’t pay her for that day, and she had to wait for Russell to pick her up after work.
“It’s a little frustrating to not have control of a system that’s not doing their job,” she said while waiting for Russell. “And then a lack of control — just the freedom to just come back if I had to come back.”
They tried to buy a month’s worth of food, but it cost $450, money they didn’t have. They pivoted toward the social services station to earn extra income. By the time they started filling out the application, there was only one minute and 40 seconds left in the cycle, so the family ended the first week without buying any groceries.
They completed one task, only to be left with countless others. The next week, they received a “fate card” which required them to fix grandma’s broken leg.
As the minutes went on, the hurdles mounted, until pretty soon they couldn’t pay rent on time and were evicted. Russell and Hurlburt, along with their three kids and grandmother, turned to the homeless shelter station for help. But Hurlburt was on a “do not shelter” list due to her bipolar disorder diagnosis.
“It’s stressful when you’re in survival mode,” Hurlburt said. “Dealing with logistics nonstop, you don’t feel like you can relax.”
By the end of week three, the family was homeless. Russell was late to work twice and got fired and grandma, who was 80-years-old, had to pick up a part-time job at the Mega Mart.
Once the hour ran out, the participants were allowed to shed their temporary identities and discuss the results of the simulation. They realized it was not just the family’s finances that suffered.
Cheryl Williams of Columbus County, who played one of Hurlburt’s children, pointed out how checked out she was as a mother.
“Your relationship with your kids becomes secondary,” Williams said.
Russell’s tactic was similar — he ignored the children when he had so much else to focus on. He said he felt unprepared from the beginning and didn’t know what to prioritize.
In order to prevent the simulation from feeling like a game, Fox said they “ground this in the human impact of poverty” by using real identities and financial challenges. The goal is to challenge people to set aside their “preconceived notions,” she explained.
“I think when you do that and you connect human-to-human, then you take it for what it is, and you can gain new insights and really have a greater sense of empathy and understanding,” Fox said.
According to the US Census Bureau, the poverty rate in Cobb County, which is measured by comparing a family’s total income to an income threshold that takes into consideration the size and composition of a family, has remained somewhat constant since 2016 when it was at 10%. It remained in the 9% range until 2019 when it dipped slightly, but in 2020 it increased again almost one percentage point. As of 2021, the poverty rate was 9.6%, which is lower than Georgia’s statewide rate of 14.2%.
Fox said she finds that poverty can sometimes seem more “invisible” to communities with a poverty rate below the state average.”That can impact the resources or supports that we set up or even the way in which we see our neighbor and are cognizant of the challenges,” she said before the simulation began.
Johnette Hill of Cobb County volunteered at the gas station during the simulation. At the end of the event, she shared her own lived experiences with poverty. During COVID-19 when schools and daycares were closed, she DoorDashed for hours a day to afford living arrangements for her and her children.
“It was a lot … just keeping myself lifted to be able to keep moving, because my kids are dependent on me to keep pushing forward,” Hill said. “It was mostly just telling myself that what I’m doing is good enough, just so that I wouldn’t give up.”
Hill suggested the attendees remain open to hearing other people’s stories and to lending a helping hand.
Debora Childs, co-founder of Together with Families, one of the nonprofits hosting the event, said she hopes the experience shows attendees how “to step into these families’ shoes.”
“It’s just to look within themselves and consider when they engage with families who are coming to them for services, what they’ve experienced and how tough it might be on them,” Childs said. “That it’s not someone just looking for handouts.”
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