首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The Street-Level Solution [A]When I was growing up, one of my father’s favorite sayings(borrowed from the humorist Will Rogers)w
The Street-Level Solution [A]When I was growing up, one of my father’s favorite sayings(borrowed from the humorist Will Rogers)w
admin
2014-07-25
65
问题
The Street-Level Solution
[A]When I was growing up, one of my father’s favorite sayings(borrowed from the humorist Will Rogers)was: "It isn’t what we don’t know that causes the trouble; it’s what we think we know that just ain’t so. " One of the main insights to be taken from the 100,000 Homes Campaign and its strategy to end chronic homelessness is that, until recently, our society thought it understood the nature of homelessness, but it didn’t.
[B]That led to a series of mistaken assumptions about why people become homeless and what they need. Many of the errors in our homelessness policies have stemmed from the conception that the homeless are a homogeneous group. It’s only in the past 15 years that organizations like Common Ground, and others, have taken a street-level view of the problem—distinguishing the " episodically homeless" from the " chronically homeless" in order to understand their needs at an individual level. This is why we can now envisage a different approach—and get better results.
[C]Most readers expressed support for the effort, although a number were skeptical, and a few utterly dismissive, about the chances of long-term homeless people adapting well to housing. This is to be expected; it’s hard to imagine what we haven’t yet seen. As Niccolo Machiavelli wrote in The Prince, one of the major obstacles in any effort to advance systemic change is the "incredulity of men," which is to say that people "do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them. " Most of us have witnessed homeless people on the streets for decades. Few have seen formerly homeless people after they have been housed successfully. We don’t have reference points for that story. So we generalize from what we know—or think we know. [D]But that can be misleading, even to experts. When I asked Rosanne Haggerty, founder of Common Ground, which currently operates 2,310 units of supportive housing(with 552 more under construction), what had been her biggest surprise in this work, she replied:"Fifteen years ago, I would not have believed that people who had been so broken and stuck in homelessness could thrive to the degree that they do in our buildings. " And Becky Kanis, the campaign’s director, commented; "There is this sense in our minds that someone who’s on the streets is almost in their DNA different from someone who has a house. The campaign is creating a firsthand experience for many people that that is really not the case. "
[E]One of the startling realizations that I had while researching this column is that anybody could become like a homeless person—all it takes is a traumatic(创伤的)brain injury. A bicycle fall, a car accident, a slip on the ice, or if you’re a soldier, a head wound—and your life could become unrecognizable. James O’Connell, a doctor who has been treating the most vulnerable homeless people on the streets of Boston for 25 years, estimates that 40 percent of the long-term homeless people he’s met had such a brain injury. " For many it was a head injury prior to the time they became homeless," he said. "They became unpredictable. They’d have mood swings, fits of explosive behavior. They couldn’t hold onto their jobs. Drinking made them feel better. They’d end up on the streets. "
[F]Once homeless people return to housing, they’re in a much better position to rebuild their lives. But it’s important to note that housing alone is not enough. As with many complex social problems, when you get through the initial crisis, you have another problem to solve which is no less challenging. But it is a better problem.
[G]Over the past decade, O’Connell has seen this happen. "I spend half my time on the streets or in the hospital and the other half making house calls to people who lived for years on the streets," he said. "So from a doctor’s point of view it’s a delightful switch, but it’s not as if putting someone in housing is the answer to addressing all of their problems. It’s the first step. "
[H]Once in housing, formerly homeless people can become isolated and lonely. If they’ve lived on the streets for years, they may have acquired a certain standing as well as a sense of pride in their survival skills. Now indoors, those aspects of their identity may be stripped away. Many also experience a profound disorientation at the outset. " If you’re homeless for more than six months, you kind of lose your bearings," says Haggerty. " Existence becomes not about overcoming homelessness but about finding food, begging, looking for a job to survive another day. The whole process of how you define stability gets reordered. "
[I]Many need regular, if not continuous, support with mental health problems, addictions and illnesses—and, equally important, assistance in the day-to-day challenges of life, reacquainting with family, building relationships with neighbors, finding enjoyable activities or work, managing finances, and learning how to eat healthy food.
[J]For some people, the best solution is to live in a communal(集体)residence, with special services. This isn’t available everywhere, however. In Boston, for example, homeless people tend to be scattered in apartments throughout the city.
[K]Common Ground’s large residences in New York offer insight into the possibilities for change when homeless people have a rich array of supports. In addition to more traditional social services, residents also make use of communal gardens, classes in things like cooking, yoga, theatre and photography, and job placement. Last year, 188 formerly homeless tenants in four of Common Ground’s residences, found jobs.
[L]Because the properties have many services and are well-managed, Haggerty has found posthousing problems to be surprisingly rare. In the past 10 years, there have been only a handful of incidents of quarrels between tenants. There is very little graffiti(涂鸦)or vandalism(破坏). And the turnover is almost negligible. In the Prince George Hotel in New York, which is home to 208 formerly homeless people and 208 low-income tenants, the average length of tenancy is close to seven years.(All residents pay 30 percent of their income for rent; for the formerly homeless, this comes out of their government benefits.)When people move on, it is usually because they’ve found a preferable apartment.
[M]"Tenants also want to participate in shaping the public areas of the buildings," said Haggerty. "They formed a gardening committee. They want a terrace on the roof. Those are things I didn’t count on. " The most common tenant demand? " People always want more storage space—but that’s true of every New Yorker," she adds. "In many ways, we’re a lot like a normal apartment building. Our tenants look like anyone else. "
[N]As I mentioned, homelessness is a catch-all for a variety of problems. A number of readers asked whether the campaign will address family homelessness, which has different causes and requires a different solution. I’ve been following some of the promising ideas emerging to address and prevent family homelessness. Later in 2011, I’ll explore these ideas in a column. For now, I’ll conclude with an update on the 100,000 Homes Campaign. Since Tuesday, New Orleans and a few other communities have reported new results. The current count of people housed is 7,043.
Some people think the best way to help the homeless is to provide them with communal housing.
选项
答案
J
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Mom7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
Withgraduateunemploymentatitshighestformorethanadecade,thelureoftheparentalnesthasneverbeenstronger.Butspo
A、AttheendofMarch.B、InthemiddleofApril.C、AtthebeginningofMay.D、AttheendofMay.A对话中男士说,他们提供了三个时间选择(分别是A、B、C),来
HowtoKeepYourNewYear’sResolutionsAbouthalfofallAmericanadultssaytheyareatleastsomewhatlikelytomakeaNe
HowtoKeepYourNewYear’sResolutionsAbouthalfofallAmericanadultssaytheyareatleastsomewhatlikelytomakeaNe
A、Theymayfeelexhausted.B、Theymayfeelverynervous.C、Theymayhaveheartache.D、Theymaysufferacold.A细节题。短文提到,室内空气污染可能
A、Localeconomycondition.B、Thesizeandlocation.C、Theenvironmentandfacilities.D、Thesupplyanddemand.B原文提及“房屋的价格取决于它的大
Somepeople’searsproducewaxlikebusylittlebees.Thiscanbeaproblemeventhoughearwax(耳垢)appearstoserveanimportant
A、HewasamanfullofresponsibilityforGermancitizens.B、Hewasamanwithlittlecouragetofacethethreatofwar.C、Hewa
A、Touristscanspotthehottestmen.B、Thecountry’sfootballexportisthefinest.C、IthasexcellentgenesandmanyEuropeana
A、Inthemountains.B、Inthesupermarket.C、Ontheroad.D、Attherailwaystation.C
随机试题
A.白及B.炮姜C.棕榈炭D.血余炭E.仙鹤草具有杀虫功效的药物为()
对于一级评价的河流,一般情况下应调查()。
《中华人民共和国商业银行法》规定,对同一借款人的贷款余额与商业银行资本余额的比例不得超过()。
A注册会计师负责审计甲公司2014年度财务报表。注册会计师在审计比较信息时应当检查会计政策变更的内容有()。
交响音画《在中亚细亚草原上》的曲作者是()
有人认为,技术上的进步将很快使得翻译工作不需要人来完成。技术的进步对翻译者的工作当然会有影响。由翻译机器来完成一些更为寻常的任务,使翻译者有更多时间应付一些更具挑战性的工作,这个主意可能看起来会受到欢迎,但实际情况并不一定是这样的。这段话要表明的主
拟态是指一种生物在形态、行为等特征上模拟另一种生物,从而使一方或双方受益的生态适应现象。根据上述定义,下列现象不属于拟态的是:
在我们的生活里,有一段时光,这时青春的_______成了记忆,夏日茂盛的回音在空中还隐约可闻。这时看人生,问题不是如何发展,而是如何真正生活:不是如何奋斗操劳,而是如何享受自己拥有的那宝贵的刹那;不是如何去_______精力,而是如何_______那股精力
ReinventingtheTableAnearthscientisthasrejiggedtheperiodictabletomakechemistrysimplertoteachtostudents.(46)But
A、Asingleroom.B、Adoubleroom.C、Atwinroom.D、Atripleroom.B对话开头男士表示想订一个房间,女士问他想订什么样的房间,男士回答双人间。
最新回复
(
0
)