旧金山培训计划帮助无家可归者走上技术岗位

San Francisco Program Trains Homeless for Tech Jobs

The city of San Francisco is home to some of the nation’s largest technology companies, including Twitter and Uber.

At the same time, it has one of the largest homeless populations in the country. Homelessness and job displacement¹ for local people continue to rise.

But, one program is helping² to connect the two worlds for job seekers. Del Seymour created the program. He was once homeless himself.

For years, Seymour suffered from using illegal drugs.

“And I wandered these streets like a zombie, day or night, for 18 years, using drugs, selling drugs, being arrested. I have 14 felony arrests in this neighborhood.”

He spent those years in a neighborhood known as the Tenderloin, an area with an extremely high rate of homelessness and drug use.

However, in recent years, large companies like Twitter, AirBnB and Uber have moved in or near the Tenderloin area.

“But they started importing people from other regions and countries to work in the neighborhood,” Seymour said.

That was hard for Daniel Henry, a formerly³ homeless man who hopes to get a technology job.

“My friends see how tech savvy⁴ I am and [say], ‘You should be working in tech, and I was like, ‘You’re right, I should.’”

A few years ago, Seymour started making phone calls to technology companies. He thought it was unfair for the companies to ignore local people, including homeless ones.

“You’re not going to come in my neighborhood and ignore my people,” he said. “You’re going to include us in your business.”

To everyone’s surprise, the companies started answering. As a result, Seymour started Code Tenderloin. It is a nonprofit organization that is giving homeless and other needy⁵ people a path to employment, including jobs in technology companies.

The organization offers classes in coding for computer languages such as HTML, CSS and javascript.

It also gives six-week training classes in job readiness. The class teaches students public speaking, resume building, interviewing and other skills.

Victoria Westbrook is director of programs and operations at Code Tenderloin. She says the organization works with all kinds of people who have barriers to employment.

“So that can mean anything from reentry (getting out of prison), homeless, at risk of becoming homeless, victims or survivors⁶ of domestic violence. It can be pretty much anybody that is under- or unemployed⁷.”

Code Tenderloin students visit technology companies to meet people, ask questions and learn from employees.

Alphonso Williams is a Code Tenderloin student. He says he enjoys each visit to a new tech company.

“I learn something new. Hopefully I can learn something else. Coding—I’m really getting into coding.”

There is no cost for classes at Code Tenderloin and, in some cases, computers are provided.

Although only a small number of students have found full-time⁸ technology jobs, a number of others have gotten internships through the program. And, many others have found other full-time jobs.

Jennifer Friedenbach is the executive director of Coalition¹⁰ on Homelessness, a nonprofit organization in San Francisco.

She says it is important for homeless people to believe that they can find work. “Even if you don’t land a coding job, you might land a different job,” she says. “The movement toward that is really important for folks lifting themselves out of poverty.”

Seymour adds that the organization works with students individually to give them extra attention and skill support.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

zombie – n. a person who moves very slowly and is not aware of what is happening

felony – n. a serious crime

region – n. a part of a country or the world that is different or separate from other parts in some way

savvy – adj. having practical understanding or knowledge of something

code – v. to change information into a set of letters, numbers or symbols that can be read by a computer

resume – n. a short document describing your education, work history and skills that you give an employer when applying for a job

internship⁹ – n. a job given to a student or recent graduate who works for a period of time in order to get experience

1 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

2 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。

3 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

4 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

5 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

6 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

7 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

8 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。

9 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。