The Cost of Poverty Experience at Harding High School

Another great opportunity to learn about the issues facing almost 50% of Marion’s population — those people who live under the threshold for poverty, as well as those who are living paycheck to paycheck. It has been proven that the “Cost of Poverty Experience” gives people a better understanding of what it is actually like to live in poverty. This can build the skills leaders, volunteers, concerned citizens, and local officials need to serve with refreshing empathy and understanding.
During the training, you might step into the role of:

*An exhausted single mother struggling to put food on the table
*A lonely senior citizen who must choose between rent and medication
*An unemployed father struggling with addiction

The fact of the matter is that poverty does make people strong… because they have no other choice. However, the chaos and the anxiety of poverty are adverse experiences that create generational trauma that has lasting effects on the health and well-being of our most vulnerable populations.