美国国家公共电台 NPR--The population at an Arizona homeless encampment swells but resources fall short

The population at an Arizona homeless encampment swells¹ but resources fall short

Transcript²

The homeless encampment in Phoenix³ has grown to over 800 people from about 250 last year. Service providers say rising rents, high inflation and the end of the eviction⁴ moratorium⁵ play a role.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

More than 800 people who don't have permanent housing are now camping out near downtown Phoenix, Ariz. Residents and business owners are suing the city because of it, demanding a solution. But city officials say they don't have enough money to help. Bridget Dowd from KJZZ in Phoenix reports.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Jay (ph), you run across that street.

BRIDGET DOWD, BYLINE⁶: Just a few blocks from Arizona's Capitol building, the streets are lined with shopping carts, blankets and discarded furniture. Hundreds of people have set up tents or built makeshift shelters out of crates⁷ and tarps in the area, commonly called the Zone.

TALIBAH SALAHUDDIN: We have to sleep on the ground, and some of us don't even have a cover.

DOWD: Talibah Salahuddin has found a shady spot to park a car that holds all of her personal belongings⁸. Next to her on the curb⁹, Codiesha Hendrix says no one should have to live like this.

CODIESHA HENDRIX: This place is raggedy - flies roaming around, cockroaches¹⁰, birds everywhere.

DOWD: Unsheltered people have been sleeping in this area for years, but recently, the numbers have grown. Last July, about 250 people were camped out in this neighborhood. This summer, that number grew to more than a thousand at one point. That growth prompted local business and homeowners to file a lawsuit¹¹ against the city in early August. Karl Freund is one of them. He told KJZZ's "The Show" they're concerned about trash, violence, crime and the conditions people are living in.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

KARL FREUND: Whatever we're doing now is not working. We've got to try something else.

DOWD: The Zone surrounds Phoenix's Human Services Campus, a nonprofit that offers a variety of resources to those experiencing homelessness.

AMY SCHWABENLENDER: We see this high number of unsheltered people living around us because they want to access all of those services, yet we can't shelter everybody.

DOWD: Amy Schwabenlender is the executive director at the campus. She says they have about 900 beds, but that's not enough, and resources are tight everywhere.

SCHWABENLENDER: We don't have enough shelter beds in all of Maricopa County, so we can't refer people to other places to go for shelter and services.

DOWD: She says the increase in unsheltered people in the area is due to a number of factors. Those include rising rents, high inflation and the expiration¹² of the pandemic eviction moratorium.

SCHWABENLENDER: It really has pushed people out of housing that they've had. We're seeing more first-time homeless, people who've never been in this situation before, and they don't know where to go.

DOWD: Those pressures affect people beyond Phoenix. The National Alliance to End Homelessness says that rising rents and inflation are increasing the risk of homelessness across the country. The city of Phoenix said in a statement that it recognizes the challenges contributing to an increase in homelessness and pointed¹³ toward the additional funding it's put toward homelessness programs.

YASSAMIN ANSARI: The city of Phoenix over the past two years has spent an unprecedented¹⁴ amount of funds on homelessness.

DOWD: Phoenix City Councilwoman Yassamin Ansari oversees¹⁵ the district where the Zone is located. She highlighted some of the same efforts mentioned by the city.

ANSARI: Last year, we spent about 50 million and this year, with our American Rescue Plan dollars, about 70 million on new shelters, transitional housing and bridge housing. And we are still working to get those up and running.

DOWD: They've also put money toward property cleanup around the Zone. But she says even the money they've committed isn't enough to solve the problem. State and federal funding are needed, as well. If there's one thing all parties agree on, it's that as long as a lack of resources exists, the Zone will, too. For NPR News, I'm Bridget Dowd in Phoenix.

(SOUNDBITE OF SADIE HARRISON AND PHILIPPA HARRISON'S "THE SOULS OF FLOWERS")

1 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

4 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

5 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

8 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

9 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

10 cockroaches   

n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At night, the cockroaches filled the house with their rustlings. 夜里，屋里尽是蟑螂窸窸瑟瑟的声音。 来自辞典例句
• It loves cockroaches, and can keep a house clear of these hated insects. 它们好食蟑螂，可以使住宅免除这些讨厌昆虫的骚扰。 来自百科语句

11 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

12 expiration   

n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物

参考例句：

• Can I have your credit card number followed by the expiration date?能告诉我你的信用卡号码和它的到期日吗?
• This contract shall be terminated on the expiration date.劳动合同期满，即行终止。

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

14 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

15 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网