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.
如果你曾在你的城市看见有人站在角落里 举着这样的标语,请举手。 (标语:想要一份工作) 我想我们都见过 老实说, 你是否至少有一次好奇过 他们是否是认真的? 如果我们给他们一份工作, 他们真的会接受吗? 而那份工作对他们的人生 来说又意味着什么? 这是一个发生在我所在城市的故事, 于是我们决定去一探究竟。 我们决定用另一种方式看待乞讨 并且用工作的尊严让人们振作起来。
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.
我们称之为“有更好的方法”。 我们之所以取这个名字 是因为我相信,比起在街角乞讨, 总会有更好的方式 去获得你需要的钱。 我相信,比起从车窗递出几美元, 还有更好的方法 去帮助那些处于困境的同胞们。 我们知道工作能带给人尊严。 我们也知道如果人们 相信社会愿意在他们身上投资, 他们也就更有可能投资他们自己。 因为我们天生就是善良而富有同情心的, 给处于困境的人几美元, 总是赠人玫瑰,手有余香。 但是如果你跟乞讨者交谈, 他们中的很多人会告诉你, 你那几块钱未必会被拿来填饱肚子, 他们可能会拿它去满足其它嗜好。 还有比这更好的方式。
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.
我叫理查德·贝瑞, 我做着全世界最好的工作之一 我是新墨西哥州阿尔伯克基 这个伟大的美国城市的市长。 2015年7月17日, 我在这伟大的美国城市中吃完午餐, 在回市政厅的路上 看到了这个男子站在路口。 正如你所看到的,他举着一块牌子, 上面写着他想要一份工作。 但如果你更仔细地看这张照片, 你会发现他正站在一块蓝色牌子下, 而牌子上写着, 如果你需要食品或庇护所, 或者你想要捐赠, 请拔打我们的社区服务号码 311。
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."
为什么这个人要举着他的牌子 站在我的牌子下? 我们很好奇,是否会有人 拔打牌子上写的311, 结果是,有人打过—— 这个号码被拔打过11000次。 我们在约30个路口设立了这一标志。 我们也的确给他们提供了 食物、住处和服务。 但是这个人仍然站在我的标语下, 举着一个需要工作的牌子。 原因很简单:他想要一份工作。 因此我决定做一件政府不常做的事情。 我决定让解决方案更简单 而不是更复杂。 我回到办公室, 召集了身边的员工, 对他们说:”我们要相信他所说的 以及其他跟他一样的人。 这个人说他想要一份工作, 我们将会给他一份工作, 同时我们也将会 使我们的城市变得更好。“
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.
阿尔伯克基是个很美的地方。 海拔为一英里 桑迪亚山脉延绵于城市东边, 格兰德河穿过城市中央; 我们是阿尔伯克基 国际热气球节的发源地。 在今天这样的天气状况下, 你可以早上去滑雪, 下午去打高尔夫球。 但总是还有一些事需要去做—— 总是有些野草需要去除, 有垃圾需要清理。 如果你想在你的城市 提出类似的方案, 就需要问自己两个问题。 第一个是:你的城市 还有什么需要做的工作? 如果你的答案是没有, 请给我你们市长的电话号码, 因为我需要一些建议。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
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.
而你必须要问的 第二个问题是这样的: 你解决城市乞讨的方法有效吗? 如果你像阿尔伯克基市一样 采取我们过去所用的惩罚性措施, 对乞讨者或者施舍者罚款。 我想说你们的解决方案不会有用, 而且我知道你还没有找到 你的城市问题的根源。 所以,如果你有事要做, 并且需要一些找事情做的人 其实有一种更好的方法。 好消息是,它不是很复杂。
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.
这是一辆2006年的道奇厢式货车, 原本闲置在我的停车场。 我们给它换了新轮胎, 并在车身上喷绘了标志。 我们把这辆车开到乞讨者所在的街角 我们开着车去找他们。 我们停下车,打开车门, 询问他们是否愿去做一天的工作, 而不是乞讨一天。 你可能好奇他们是否真的想工作—— 早上我们花了大概一个小时 就装满了一车人, 因为几乎我们问的每个人 都接受了一天的工作。
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.
但你需要的不仅仅是一辆箱型车, 你还需要一个非常出色的人 去驾驶这辆车。 而我的这个出色的驾驶员名叫威尔, 穿着黄色背心的人就是他。 威尔为我们当地的非营利合作伙伴工作。 他每天都跟这些流浪者打交道。 乞讨者信任他, 他也信任这些乞讨者。 是他促成了这件事。 我想说“有志者事竟成”。 (注:“志”和“威尔”的英语相同) 所以如果你打算在你的城市 发起“更好的方法”运动, 也需要找到一个威尔。 因为他真的是使得这件事 在阿尔伯克基成功的关键因素之一。
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."
你还需要一个很棒的 非营利合作伙伴。 与我们合作的是圣马丁服务中心。 他们已经入驻我们社区30多年了。 他们提供咨询、食物、临时住所, 如果有些服务无法提供, 他们也知道在我们的城市中有谁能提供。 从市长的角度而言, 他们为我做的就更多了。 他们给我提供了灵活性。 通常我要花两个星期, 有时甚至要两个月 去给一个人在阿尔伯克基市安排工作。 所以你可以想像—— 一辆破旧的道奇车, 一位超级出色的伙伴,威尔, 一个非常棒的地方非营利合作伙伴—— 他们来到街角,看到一个乞讨者, 他们问“你想找一份当天的工作吗?” 乞讨者说,“是的”, 然后威尔说,“很好, 我会在六周后过来接你。”
(Laughter)
(笑声)
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.
这行不通的。 灵活性在我们这个项目中真的很重要。 他们帮忙做文书工作, 他们搞定保险, 我无法很快完成的事 都交给他们去做了。
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.
我们付这些乞讨者 9 美元的时薪, 提供一顿工作餐, 在每天工作结束后, 我们的道奇车会将他们 送回圣马丁服务中心, 为他们提供咨询服务。
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.
目前为止, 随着这个试点计划的开展, 每个星期的几天时间, 加上一个非常出色的人,一辆道奇车, 我们清理了阿尔伯克基的 400个街区, 清理了超过11万7千磅的 垃圾、野草和废弃物。 我不知道你们有没有 称过一株风滚草的重量, 我知们道它们很轻, 所以你可以想像我们清理了多少东西。
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.
我的城市有 6000 个政府雇员, 固体废弃物部门是最棒的。 我们在每天傍晚派出垃圾车, 他们帮助乞讨者将白天清理出的废物 倒进垃圾车, 然后载到填埋场。 我很幸运,有愿意跟乞讨者 并肩工作的政府员工。 他们在提升自己生活质量的同时 也提升了这个城市的市容。 注意,任何事都一样, 它也需要资源, 但是好消息是,它不需要太多资源。 我们开始时只有一辆旧道奇车, 一个非常出色的人, 一家很棒的地方非营利组织 以及5万美金。
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.
但是我们还必须要赢得社会的信任。 幸运的是,我们在“更好的方法” 启动前就建立了这种信任。 我们有一个项目叫作 “回到阿尔伯克基的家”, 一个我们用来安置长期流浪者的 住房优先模式。 当我告诉我的社区, 我们想用不同的方式去做, 我说有更聪明的方法去做正确的事情。 我们目前安置了 650 位 长期流浪者、体弱者—— 坦率地讲,他们大多数 都可能暴死街头。 我们委托大学去研究它, 我们可以告诉纳税人, 比起任由那些人在街头 为生存而挣扎,我们其实可以 节省 31.6% 的社会成本。 我们安置了650个人, 同时也节省了超过五百万美元。
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.
我们赢得了社会的信任, 但是作为一个社会整体, 我们还需要更多开诚布公的交流, 因为我们要让人们明白 当他们从车窗里递出去5美元时, 实际上反而弱化了他们 帮助困境者的机会,原因如下: 这5美元可能 今天会被用来买快餐—— 但更多时候可能 被用来购买毒品和酒。 同样的5美元, 如果你将它交给我们的某个庇护所, 可以用它来填饱7个人的肚子。 而如果你将它交给 当地的食物银行或食物站, 就能帮助20个人。
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."
人们会问“阿尔伯克基有60万人, 将来会有上百万的人,成为大都市…… 这在我们的城市行不通, 城市太大,我们太渺小。” 我不同意这种观点: 只要有一个城市街区有一个乞讨者, 你就可以做得到。 如果你住在一个有850万人口的城市, 你也可以这么做。 其实你做什么并不重要, 重要的不是你做的具体工作, 而是工作的尊严, 做什么都可以。 因此我认为任何城市都能做到。 有人对我说, “市长,这也太简单了。 事情不可能这么简单。”
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.
但是朋友,让我告诉你们: 当你去到街角, 跟一个乞讨者交谈, 报以礼貌和尊敬, 可能就是他们多年来 或人生中头一次被尊重。 你告诉他们:你相信他们, 这是你的城市,同样也是他们的城市, 事实上你需要他们来帮助 我们的城市变得更好 你知道这并不能解决 他们所有的问题, 但这至少是个不错的开始, 神奇的事情正在发生。 当他们去到工作地点, 开始一同工作, 你会看到奇迹发生。 他们看到了团结合作的力量, 他们知道了自己可以做出改变。 一天将尽, 当他们坐上旧道奇卡车回到圣马丁时, 他们更可能报名接受所需要的服务—— 药物滥用,心理健康咨询等等。
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.
迄今为止,我们的试点项目 已经提供了大约1700天的一日工作。 我们为216人找到了长期工作。 20人实际上已经获得了 我们的“住房优先”资格, 他们现在已经 有家可归了。 通过“有更好的方法”项目, 已有超过150人 接受了精神健康和药物滥用服务。
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.
这是两周前 我在圣马丁 做定期调查, 我们每两年做一次。 我照例在采访一位无家可归的男子。 收集他的信息,了解他的籍贯, 他如何到了这里, 我们能做什么来帮助他。 你会发现他正拿着 与2015年那个人同样的牌子, 也就是我今天进场时 拿着的那句标语。
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.
因此你禁不住会好奇: 这真的有用吗? 它绝对有用。 阿尔伯克基目前是国内 处理那些最顽固持久的社会问题的 先锋。 综合“阿尔伯克基回家”项目 与“更好的方法”项目来看, 阿尔伯克基去年 无家可归者的数量已经 减少了80% 自从我当了市长之后, 城市中长期无家可归者的数量 减少了40% 根据住房与城市发展部门的定义, 我们已经达到了“功能零点”。 这就意味,通过有目的 的策划,我们基本上 已经在阿尔伯克基 消除了长期无家可归现象。
(Applause)
(鼓掌)
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.
因此我很高兴地宣布 其它城市也得知了此事, 其他市长正在联系我们—— 芝加哥,西雅图,丹佛,达拉斯—— 他们正在开展相关项目, 将工作的尊严纳入其中。 我迫不及待地想向他们学习, 想看到他们如何进行试验, 他们的试点方案如何, 这样我们就能在全国范围内 通过赋予工作尊严进行合作。 我想赞扬他们—— 这些市长,他们的社区和非营利组织—— 赞扬他们所做的工作。
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.
那么接下来会是谁呢? 你和你的城市准备好了吗? 你准备好换种方式 思考这些社会顽疾了吗? 你准备好通过赋予工作尊严 让社区的人们振作起来了吗? 准备好全面提升你的市容了吗? 如果你准备好了,我的朋友们, 我保证“有更好的方法”。
Thank you.
谢谢大家。
(Applause)
(掌声)