SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) - The Poverty Simulation invited participants to step into the shoes of community members facing poverty, to explore different perspectives of systematic barriers.

Participants spent four fifteen-minute intervals, roleplaying different characters in situations as they navigate everyday services but with limited resources.

One participant, Garlia Rice, roleplayed as a 21-year-old single mother.

"[My child is] only one-years-old, so I had to put him in childcare, [but] they closed at 4:00 yesterday," Rice explained. "I left him with his stepdad, and I got a notice on the door saying that I left my child by himself. Now I have a court date."

Rice's character is also unemployed and trying to go back to school, but has faced hardships time and time again.

"I have b

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