So, raise your hand if you've seen somebody in your city standing on a corner, holding a sign like this. I think we all have. If you're being honest, at least one time, have you wondered if they mean it? If we offered them a job, would they really take it? And what would that job mean to them in their lives? Well, this is a story about what happened in my city when we decided to find out, when we decided to think differently about panhandling, and lift people up through the dignity of work.
Podignite ruku ako ste videli nekog u vašem gradu kako stoji na ćošku i drži ovakav natpis. [Želim posao] Mislim da smo svi. Budite iskreni, makar jednom, da li ste se zapitali da li to stvarno misle? Da im ponudimo posao, da li bi ga zaista prihvatili? I šta bi im taj posao značio u njihovom životu? Ovo je priča o onome što se desilo u mom gradu kada smo odlučili da saznamo, kada smo odlučili da drugačije razmišljamo o prosjačenju i da uzdignemo ljude pomoću dostojanstva kroz rad.
We call it, "There's a Better Way." We call it There's a Better Way because I believe there's a better way to get the money you need than panhandling on the corner. I believe there's a better way to help your brothers and sisters in need than handing a few dollars out the car window. We know there's dignity in work. We also know that people are much more likely to invest in themselves if they believe that their community is willing to invest in them first. And because we're all wired to be kind and compassionate, it always feels good to hand a couple of dollars to someone that is in need. But if you talk to panhandlers, many of them will tell you that your few dollars don't necessarily go towards feeding the body, they go towards feeding an addiction. There's a better way.
Zovemo to „Postoji bolji način“. Zovemo to „Postoji bolji način“ zato što verujem da postoji bolji način da se zaradi potreban novac nego da prosite na ćošku. Verujem da postoji bolji način da se pomogne siromašnoj braći i sestrama nego da im damo nekoliko dolara kroz prozor auta. Znamo da postoji dostojanstvo u radu. Takođe znamo da su šanse da ljudi ulože u sebe mnogo veće ako veruju da je njihova zajednica spremna da prva uloži u njih. I zato što smo svi predodređeni da budemo dobri i sažaljivi, uvek se osećamo dobro kada damo par dolara nekome ko je siromašan. Ali, ako pričate sa prosjacima, mnogi će vam reći da nekoliko vaših dolara ne ide obavezno na to da se hrani telo, već odlaze na to da se hrani zavisnost. Postoji bolji način.
My name is Richard Berry, and I have one of the best jobs in the world. I get to be the mayor of a great American city, Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was at lunch on July 17, 2015, in my great American city, and on my way back to city hall, I saw this gentleman standing on a corner. As you can see, he's holding a sign, and his sign says he wants a job. But if you look closer at the picture, you'll see he's standing underneath a blue sign, and that sign says, if you need help, if you need food or shelter or you'd like to donate, please call 311, our community service number.
Zovem se Ričard Beri i imam jedan od najboljih poslova na svetu. Gradonačelnik sam sjajnog američkog grada, Albukerkija u Novom Meksiku. Bio sam na pauzi za ručak 17. jula 2015. u svom sjajnom američkom gradu i na putu nazad ka gradskoj kući, video sam ovog gospodina kako stoji na ćošku. Kao što vidite, on drži natpis i njegov natpis kaže da on želi posao. Ako bolje pogledate fotografiju, videćete da on stoji ispod plavog znaka na kojem piše: „Ako vam je potrebna pomoć, ako vam je potrebna hrana ili sklonište, ili ako želite da date prilog, molim vas, pozovite 311 ili broj naše socijalne službe.“
So why is this guy standing underneath my sign with his sign? Well, we wondered if anybody would call that 311 sign, and as it turns out, they did -- 11,000 times people called. I put those up in about 30 intersections. And we did connect them with food and shelter and services. But yet he's still standing under my sign with a sign that says he wants a job. It's simple: he wants a job. So I decided to do something rare in government. I decided to make the solution simpler rather than more complicated. I went back to my office, I gathered my staff around and I said, "We're going to take this man at his word, and others like him. The man says he wants a job, we're going to give him a job, and we're going to make our city an even better place in the meantime."
Zašto ovaj momak stoji ispod mog znaka sa svojim natpisom? Pitali smo se da li bi iko pozvao 311 sa znaka i, kao što se ispostavilo, jesu - ljudi su pozvali 11 000 puta. Postavio sam te znake na oko 30 raskrsnica. I jesmo ih povezali sa hranom, skloništem i službama. Ali ipak, on i dalje stoji ispod mog znaka sa natpisom koji kaže da on želi posao. Jednostavno je - on želi posao. Zato sam odlučio da uradim nešto neobično za vladu. Odlučio sam da rešenje učinim jednostavnijim, a ne komplikovanijim. Vratio sam se u kancelariju, okupio svoje osoblje i rekao: „Uzećemo ovog čoveka i ostale nalik njemu za reč. Čovek kaže da želi posao, mi ćemo mu dati posao i učinićemo naš grad još boljim za to vreme.“
You see, Albuquerque is a beautiful place. We're a mile high, the Sandia Mountains on the east, the Rio Grande runs through the center of the city; we're the home of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. On a day like today, you could literally ski this morning and golf this afternoon. But there's always something to do -- always weeds to pull, litter to pick up. If you're going to have an initiative like this in your city, you have to ask yourself two questions. First one is: Is there anything left to do in your city? And if the answer is no, would you please give me your mayor's phone number, because I need some advice.
Vidite, Albukerki je lepo mesto - na 1,6 kilometara nadmorske visine, planine Sandija na istoku, Rio Grande protiče kroz centar grada, domaćini smo Međunarodnog festivala balona u Albukerkiju. Po danu kakav je danas, bukvalno se možete skijati ujutru i igrati golf posle podne. Ali, uvek ima nešto da se radi - uvek ima korova za čupanje, otpadaka za skupljanje. Ako ćete pokrenuti ovakvu inicijativu u svom gradu, morate sebi postaviti dva pitanja. Prvo je - da li ima nešto što treba da se uradi u vašem gradu? Ako je odgovor „ne“, da li biste mi, molim vas, dali broj telefona vašeg gradonačelnika jer su mi potrebni neki saveti? (Smeh)
(Laughter)
Ali drugo pitanje koje treba da postavilte je ovo -
But the second question you have to ask is this: Are your solutions to panhandling working? If you're like Albuquerque, and you're taking the punitive approach like we used to, handing out tickets to panhandlers or those who give them money, I'm going to suggest that your solutions aren't working, and I know you're not getting to the root of your problem in your city. So if you have something to do and you need people that need something to do, there's a better way. And the good news is, it's not that complicated.
da li su vaša rešenja za prosjačenje uspešna? Ako ste kao Albukerki i imate kazneni pristup kao što smo mi imali, davanje kazni prosjacima i onima koji im daju novac, predložiću da vaša rešenja nisu uspešna, i znam da ne dosežete do korena vašeg problema u vašem gradu. Ako imate nešto da se uradi i ako su vam potrebni ljudi kojima treba nešto da rade, postoji bolji način. Dobra vest je da to nije tako komplikovano.
This a 2006 Dodge van. It was in my motor pool not doing anything. We put some new tires on it, wrapped it with a logo. This van now goes out to street corners where our panhandlers are -- we go to them. We stop the van, we get out, we ask them if they would like a day's work rather than panhandling for the day. And if you wondered if they really mean it -- it takes us about an hour to fill this van up in the morning, because almost everybody we ask takes a job for the day.
Ovo je Dodž kombi iz 2006. godine. Bio je u mom voznom parku i ni za šta nije bio korišćen. Stavili smo nove gume na njega, umotali ga u logo. Ovaj kombi sada odlazi na ćoškove ulica gde su naši prosjaci - mi idemo kod njih. Zaustavimo kombi, izađemo, pitamo ih da li bi hteli da rade tog dana umesto da prose. I ako ste se pitali da li to zaista misle - treba nam oko sat vremena da ujutru napunimo kombi jer skoro svako koga pitamo prihvati da radi tog dana.
But you need more than just a van. You need a super-fantastic human being to drive that van. And my super-fantastic human being, his name is Will. This is him in the yellow vest. Will works at our local nonprofit partner. He works with the homeless every day. The panhandlers trust him, he believes in them, he hustles. I like to say, "Where there's a Will, there's a way." So if you're going to do the Better Way campaign in your city, you need to find yourself a Will, because he's really one of the keys to making this successful in the city of Albuquerque.
Ali, potrebno vam je više nego samo kombi. Treba vam superfantastično ljudsko biće da vozi taj kombi. Ime mog superfantastičnog ljudskog bića je Vil. Ovo je on u žutom prsluku. Vil radi za našeg neprofitnog partnera. On radi sa beskućnicima svaki dan. Prosjaci mu veruju, on veruje u njih, podstiče ih. Volim da kažem: „Ako postoji Vil, postoji način.“ Ako ćete organizovati kampanju „Bolji način“ u svom gradu, morate sebi naći jednog Vila jer je on zaista jedan od ključeva uspeha ove kampanje u gradu Albukerkiju.
You also need a great nonprofit partner. Ours is St. Martin's Hospitality Center. They've been in our community for over 30 years. They provide counseling, food, shelter, and if they don't provide it, they know somebody in our city that does. But they do something much more for me as the mayor. They provide agility. You see, it takes me two weeks, maybe two months sometimes, to onboard an employee with the city of Albuquerque. So you could imagine -- my old Dodge van, my super-fantastic human being, Will, a great local nonprofit partner -- they drive to the corner, there's a panhandler, they say, "Would you like to work for the day?" The panhandler says, "Yes," and Will says, "Great! I'll be back in six weeks to pick you up."
Takođe vam treba i sjajni neprofitni partner. Naš je ugostiteljski centar „Sent Martin“. U našoj zajednici su preko 30 godina. Pružaju savetovanje, hranu, sklonište, a ako ga oni ne pružaju, znaju nekoga u našem gradu ko to radi. Ali, oni rade nešto mnogo više za mene kao gradonačelnika. Oni pružaju agilnost. Vidite, potrebno mi je dve nedelje, ponekad možda dva meseca, da zaposlim radnika da radi za grad Albukerki. Možete zamisliti - moj stari Dodž kombi, moje superfantastično ljudsko biće, Vil, sjajan lokalni neprofitni partner - odvezu se do ćoška, tamo je prosjak, oni kažu: „Da li želiš da radiš danas?“ Prosjak kaže: „Da“, a Vil kaže: „Sjajno! Vratiću se za šest nedelja da te pokupim.“
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
It wouldn't work. It's really important that we have that agility in our program. And they do the paperwork, they do the insurance, they do all of the other forms that I can't do quickly.
Ne bi valjalo. Veoma je važno da imamo tu agilnost u našem programu. Oni rade papirologiju. Oni rade osiguranje. Oni rade sve ostale formulare koje ja ne mogu brzo da uradim.
We pay our panhandlers nine dollars an hour. We feed them once at the jobsite. At the end of the day, our old Dodge van takes them right back to St. Martin's, and they get connected with counseling services.
Plaćamo naše prosjake devet dolara na sat. Hranimo ih jednom na radnom mestu. Na kraju dana, naš stari Dodž kombi ih vodi pravo u „Sent Martin“ i povezujemo ih sa savetodavnim službama.
So far, with the pilot program and a couple days a week, and a fantastic human being and a Dodge van, we've cleaned up 400 city blocks in the city of Albuquerque. We've picked up over 117,000 pounds of trash, weeds and litter. I don't know if you've ever weighed a tumbleweed, but they don't weigh much, so you can imagine the volume of material that we've picked up.
Do sada, sa probnim programom par dana nedeljno, fantastičnim ljudskim bićem i Dodž kombijem očistili smo 400 gradskih blokova u gradu Albukerkiju. Pokupili smo preko 53 000 kilograma đubreta, korova i otpadaka. Ne znam da li ste ikad izmerili osušen korov, ali on nije veoma težak, pa možete zamisliti količinu materijala koju smo pokupili. Moj grad ima 6 000 radnika,
My city has 6,000 employees, and none better than my solid waste department. We send our trucks out at the end of the day, they help the panhandlers put into the truck the material they've picked up during the day, and we take it to the landfill. I'm lucky that I have city employees that are willing to work side by side with our panhandlers. They're lifting up our city while lifting up their lives. And like anything else -- listen, it takes resources. But the good news is it doesn't take much. We started with an old van, a super-fantastic human being, a great local nonprofit and $50,000.
podjednako dobrih kao moje odeljenje za čvrsti otpad. Šaljemo naše kamione na kraju dana; oni pomažu prosjacima da stave u kamion materijal koji su pokupili u toku dana i nosimo ga na deponiju. Srećom, imam radnike grada koji su spremni da rade rame uz rame sa našim prosjacima. Oni uzdižu naš grad dok uzdižu njihove živote. I kao bilo šta drugo - vidite, potrebna su sredstva, ali dobra vest je da ne treba puno. Počeli smo sa starim kombijem, superfantastičnim ljudskim bićem, sjajnom lokalnom neprofitnom organizacijom i pedeset hiljada dolara,
But we also had to have community trust. And fortunately, we had built that up in years prior to Better Way. We have a program called "Albuquerque Heading Home," a Housing First model where we house the chronically homeless, and when I told my community we wanted to do that differently, I said there's a smart way to do the right thing. We have now housed 650 chronically homeless, medically vulnerable -- frankly, most likely to die on the streets in our city. We commissioned our university, they studied it. We could tell the taxpayers, we can save you 31.6 percent over the cost of leaving someone to struggle for survival on the streets. We've now saved over five million dollars while housing 650 people.
ali smo takođe imali poverenje zajednice. Na sreću, to smo izgradili u godinama koje su prethodile „Boljem životu“. Imamo program koji se zove „Albukerki na putu kući“, projekat „Prvo skućavanje“ gde smeštamo naše hronične beskućnike, i kada sam rekao svojoj zajednici da želimo to da radimo drugačije, rekao sam da postoji pametan način da se uradi prava stvar. Do sada smo smestili 650 hroničnih beskućnika, medicinski ranjivih - iskreno, veoma izvesno bi umrli na ulicama u našem gradu. Angažovali smo naš univerzitet - proučili su to. Mogli smo reći poreskim obveznicima: „Možemo vam uštedeti 31,6 posto u odnosu na troškove ostavljanja nekog da se bori za opstanak na ulicama.“ Do sada smo uštedeli preko pet miliona dolara smeštajući 650 ljudi.
So we had that community trust, but we had to have a little bit more of an honest conversation also as a community, because we had to get people to understand that when they hand those five dollars out the window, they might actually be minimizing their opportunity to help the person in need, and here's why: that five dollars might go to buying some fast food today -- a lot of times it goes to buying drugs and alcohol. That same five dollars, if you gave it to one of our shelters, could feed seven people today. And if you gave it to one of our local food banks or food pantries, we could actually feed 20 people with that money.
Tako da smo imali to poverenje zajednice, ali smo takođe morali da imamo i malo iskreniji razgovor kao zajednica jer smo morali da nateramo ljude da razumeju da, kada daju tih pet dolara kroz prozor, možda smanjuju svoju mogućnost da pomognu siromašnoj osobi, i evo zašto: tih pet dolara mogu danas otići na kupovinu brze hrane; mnogo puta odlaze na kupovinu droge i alkohola. Tih istih pet dolara, ako ih date jednom od naših skloništa, mogu danas nahraniti sedmoro ljudi. A ako ih date jednoj od lokalnih banaka hrane ili skladišta hrane, mi, u stvari, možemo nahraniti 20 ljudi sa tim novcem.
People ask,"Well, Albuquerque is 600,000 people -- million, metro -- this wouldn't work in our city, we're too big, we're too small." I disagree; if you have one panhandler on one city block, you can do this. If you live in a city of eight-and-half million people, you can do this. It doesn't matter what you do. It's not the work that you do, it's the dignity of the work. You could do anything. So I think any city could do this. And people say to me, "Mayor, that's just a little too simple. It can't work that way."
Ljudi pitaju: „Albukerki ima 600 000 ljudi, milion sa okolnim mestima. Ovo ne bi uspelo u našem gradu; suviše je veliki ili mali.“ Ne slažem se. Ako imate jednog prosjaka u jednom gradskom bloku, možete ovo uraditi. Ako živite u gradu sa osam i po miliona ljudi, možete ovo uraditi. Nema veze šta radite. Nije u pitanju posao koji radite, već dostojanstvo rada. Možete da radite bilo šta. Mislim da bilo koji grad može ovo da radi. I ljudi mi kažu: „Gradonačelniče, to je nekako suviše jednostavno. Ne može uspeti na taj način.“
But I tell you what, friends: when you go to a street corner and you engage with a panhandler with dignity and respect, maybe for the first time in years, maybe in their life, and you tell them that you believe in them and that this is their city as much as it's your city, and that you actually need their help to make our place better, and you understand that this isn't the answer to all their problems, but at least it's a start, an amazing thing happens. When they get out on the jobsite and they start working together, you start seeing amazing things happen. They see teamwork; they see the fact that they can make a difference. And at the end of the day, when they get back to St. Martin's in that old Dodge van, they're much more likely to sign up for whatever services they need -- substance abuse, mental health counseling, you name it.
Ali, reći ću vam ovo, prijatelji - kada odete na ćošak i razgovarate sa prosjakom dostojanstveno i sa poštovanjem, možda po prvi put u mnogo godina, možda u njihovom životu, i kažete im da verujete u njih i da je ovo njihov grad podjednako kao i vaš, i da vam je, u stvari, potrebna njihova pomoć da poboljšate naše mesto, i da razumete da ovo nije odgovor na sve njihove probleme, ali da je makar početak, neverovatna stvar se dogodi. Kada odu na radno mesto i počnu zajedno da rade, počinjete da vidite neverovatne stvari. Vide timski rad i činjenicu da mogu da naprave razliku. I na kraju dana, kada odu u „Sent Martin“ u tom starom Dodž kombiju, izvesnije je da će se prijaviti za bilo koju pomoć koja im je potrebna - zloupotreba supstanci, savetovanje za duševno zdravlje ili bilo šta drugo. Do sada, našim probnim programom
So far with our pilot program, we've offered about 1,700 days of day work. We've connected 216 people to permanent employment opportunities. Twenty people actually qualified for our Housing First model, Heading Home, and they've been housed. And over 150 people have been connected to mental health substance abuse services through There's a Better Way.
smo ponudili oko 1 700 dana jednodnevnog posla. Povezali smo 216 ljudi sa prilikama za stalno zaposlenje. Dvadeset ljudi su, u stvari, ispunili uslove za naš projekat „Prvo skućavanje“, „Ka kući“ i smešteni su. Preko 150 ljudi su bili povezani sa savetovalištima za duševno zdravlje i zloupotrebu supstanci kroz „Postoji bolji način“. Ovo sam ja pre samo dve nedelje,
This is me just two weeks ago, at St. Martin's, doing our point-in-time survey that we do every two years. I'm interviewing a gentleman who's homeless, like we do, getting his information, figuring out where he's from, how he got there, what we can do to help him. And you notice he's holding the same sign that the guy was holding in 2015, same sign I walked out with here today.
u „Sent Martinu“, kako sprovodim prebrojavanje koje radimo svake dve godine. Kao što inače radimo, razgovaram sa gospodinom koji je beskućnik, prikupljam njegove podatke, ustanovljavam odakle je, kako je stigao tamo i kako možemo da mu pomognemo. Primećujete da drži isti natpis koji je onaj momak držao 2015. godine, isti natpis sa kojim sam ja danas ovde ušetao.
So you have to ask yourself: Is it really making a difference? Absolutely it's making a difference. Albuquerque is now one of the national leaders in combating some of the most stubborn and persistent social issues that we have. Combined with Albuquerque Heading Home, the Better Way program, Albuquerque has reduced unsheltered homelessness in our city by 80 percent last year. Since I took over as mayor, we've been able to reduce the chronic homeless population in our city by 40 percent. And by HUD's definition, we've gotten to functional zero, which means we've literally ended veteran homelessness in the city of Albuquerque, by being intentional.
Morate se zapitati: „Da li zaista pravi razliku?“ Apsolutno pravi razliku. Albukerki je sada jedan od državnih predvodnika u borbi protiv nekih od najupornijih i najistrajnijih društvenih problema koje imamo. Zajedno sa projektom „Ka kući“ i programom „Bolji način“, Albukerki je smanjio broj beskućnika bez skloništa u našem gradu za 80% prošle godine. Otkako sam postao gradonačelnik, mogli smo da smanjimo broj hroničnih beskućnika u našem gradu za 40%. A po definiciji ministarstva, stigli smo do funkcionalne nule, što znači da bukvalno nemamo beskućnike među veteranima u gradu Albukerkiju, time što smo to planski radili.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
So I'm happy to report that other cities are hearing about this, other mayors are calling us -- Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Dallas -- and are now starting to implement programs where they bring the dignity of work to the equation. And I can't wait to learn from them. I can't wait to see what their experiment looks like, what their pilot project looks like, so we can start taking a collective approach nationally through the dignity of work. And I want to commend them -- the mayors, their communities, their nonprofits -- for the work that they're doing.
Srećan sam da mogu da kažem da drugi gradovi saznaju za ovo, drugi gradonačelnici nas zovu - Čikago, Sijetl, Denver, Dalas - i sada počinju da primenjuju programe gde dostojanstvo rada uključuju u računicu. Jedva čekam da naučim od njih. Jedva čekam da vidim njihove eksperimente i probne projekte, pa da možemo da pričamo o zajedničkom državnom pristupu kroz dostojanstvo rada. Želim da ih pohvalim - gradonačelnike, zajednice, neprofitne organizacije - zbog njihovog rada.
So who's next? Are you and your city ready to step up? Are you ready to think differently about these persistent social issues? Are you ready to lift people up in your community through the dignity of work, and make your city profoundly better in many ways? Well, if you are, my friends, I promise you there is a better way.
Ko je sledeći? Da li ste vi i vaš grad spremni da učinite nešto više? Da li ste spremni da drugačije razmišljate o ovim upornim društvenim problemima? Da li ste spremni da uzdignete ljude u vašoj zajednici kroz dostojanstvo rada i učinite svoj grad istinski boljim na mnogo načina? Prijatelji moji, ako ste spremni, obećavam vam da postoji bolji način.
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)