美国国家公共电台 NPR--A Texas nonprofit is helping low-income people with car repairs

A Texas nonprofit is helping¹ low-income people with car repairs

Transcript²

Car trouble can set off a financial crisis for low-income people. In Dallas, a small nonprofit is trying to help, one car repair at a time.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Car repairs are never convenient, but for people who don't make much money, they can be a major financial hurdle³. In Dallas, reporter Kevin (ph) Connelly from member station KERA has the story of a small charity fixing the vehicles that could otherwise drive their owners into debt.

CHRISTOPHER CONNELLY, BYLINE⁴: About a decade ago, Manuel Tellez's truck was in pretty bad shape. It was constantly overheating.

MANUEL TELLEZ: It was just one thing after another, and I didn't have any money to get it repaired. So what I did is I went to a payday lender to take out a loan.

CONNELLY: Tellez borrowed a little over $1,000, he says. With fees and interest, he wound up paying $7,000 back to the company. And making those payments at the payday lending store, he noticed something.

TELLEZ: A lot of folks would come in to take out payday loans to pay for an auto⁵ repair. And that got me to thinking, well, is there anyone or any organization here in North Texas that can help people who need this kind of help? And it turned out, no, there actually isn't.

CONNELLY: The idea lodged⁶ in his head for years, and by 2018, Tellez had formed a new nonprofit. It's called Autocare Haven⁷, and the mission is simple - fix vehicles for low-income drivers who can't afford repairs and can't afford to have their car break down. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, nearly 40% of households report having difficulty paying their usual expenses. That's according to the Census⁸ Bureau's latest Household Pulse Survey. And more than a third were struggling to pay their rent or mortgage.

TELLEZ: What we're really providing is hope because when your vehicle goes down, especially if you don't have the means, if you're living paycheck to paycheck, you're usually just kind of, you know, in despair.

CONNELLY: Autocare Haven is still a small operation. Tellez runs it on top of his full-time⁹ marketing¹⁰ job, and the group has had to turn off its online application portal from time to time because needs overwhelmed capacity. But he's hoping it'll grow in 2023.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAR STARTING)

CONNELLY: At a recent pop-up event in South Dallas, mechanics from Autocare Haven spent the day topping off automotive fluids and giving out advice.

DARREN BROWN: You probably have a small oil leak as well 'cause you got oil all over your motor.

CONNELLY: Mechanic Darren Brown says the charity doesn't do cosmetic¹¹ work. It also won't rebuild engines or transmissions because it's just too expensive and labor¹²-intensive. Other than that, they'll tackle pretty much any issue.

BROWN: Autocare pays for the parts, pays for the labor, pays the mechanic. You don't do nothing but sit back and wait for the vehicle.

CONNELLY: And having your vehicle fixed¹³ for free to get you back on the road...

TIM HALE: It helps out a whole lot.

CONNELLY: Last year, Tim Hale's minivan needed a new water pump. It was the latest in a string of mechanical problems on the red 9-year-old Toyota Sienna.

HALE: It was going to cost me another, like, thousand dollars to get the water pump done, and we just did not have it.

CONNELLY: Hale is on disability and works part time. His wife, Tamara, works at a pharmacy¹⁴, and she also drives for Uber, so having the minivan out of commission meant they were losing income. So when the couple heard about Autocare Haven from a friend, Hale applied¹⁵.

HALE: It was a godsend that they come in and fixed it.

CONNELLY: Fixing a broken water pump doesn't fix a family's financial struggles, but it can help them steer¹⁶ clear of an even bigger setback¹⁷.

For NPR News, I'm Christopher Connelly in Dallas.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

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 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

4 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。

5 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

6 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

8 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

9 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

10 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

11 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

14 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

15 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

16 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

17 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。