美国国家公共电台 NPR Why Charlotte Is One Of Ben Carson's Models For HUD's Work Requirements

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

The secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, has proposed a change. The idea is to allow housing authorities across the country to require that low-income people work in order to live in affordable¹ housing. Now, Carson says work requirements can help people become more self-sufficient. And he pointed² to Charlotte, N.C., as an example of where that's happened. So NPR's Brakkton Booker went to check it out.

BRAKKTON BOOKER, BYLINE³: When HUD Secretary Ben Carson was seeking insight for his rent reform plan, he spoke⁴ to Fulton Meachem.

FULTON MEACHEM: They were very specific about our program being more of a supportive services program. Just asking someone to go to work has not really been successful, I believe.

BOOKER: Fulton Meachem is the president of the Charlotte Housing Authority. He describes it as a quasi-governmental organization, and he makes clear the program is not just about mandating⁵ work for adults 18 to 61 years old. The focus is on services it provides to residents so they can overcome barriers.

MEACHEM: Is it child care? Is it education? Is it transportation? And working with them to really address those barriers.

BOOKER: The program calls for at least 20 hours of work per week. And if residents can't find work, then volunteering or enrolling⁶ in job training will suffice. The requirements started here in 2011, and since then, Charlotte Housing says, of the 22,000 residents it serves at any given time, some 800 families have moved up and out of public housing.

MEACHEM: I did not get into this business to warehouse⁷ poor people. That's what I didn't want to do.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FAMILY AFFAIR")

MARY J. BLIGE: (Singing) Let's get it percolating⁸.

BOOKER: Here at the Southside Homes, a sprawling⁹ affordable housing complex with nearly 400 units, I meet Paulette Culbreth. She's been a resident with Charlotte Housing since 2003.

PAULETTE CULBRETH: I'm glad you made it.

BOOKER: There's a DJ here, and the smell of grilled¹⁰ hotdogs is in the air. It's Community Resource Day.

What's going on over here?

CULBRETH: This is a celebration of the community. We have vendors¹¹ to help you with child care. And, you know, you need a little help with your kids at times.

BOOKER: You could also get information about training services and programs to potentially help earn more money. Culbreth takes me to her unit across the street.

CULBRETH: Hey.

BOOKER: She pays $188 a month in rent and has a case manager who helps her stay on track with life and work goals. The 45-year-old grandmother makes $12.50 an hour working for Charlotte Housing. Her job - connecting other residents with training and benefit programs.

CULBRETH: I want to be an example and to let them know, hey, I done been there.

BOOKER: Culbreth was a single mom. She's been to jail and battled drugs and alcohol over the years. She says, now, life is moving in a positive direction.

CULBRETH: I know exactly where you're talking about. Let me take you to where you need to go to.

BOOKER: She shares with me her vision board she keeps by the bed as a reminder¹² of big future dreams.

CULBRETH: I told you. I'm almost there. That's my house, my Lamborghini and my yacht. And I'm going to have that, celebrating that in 15 years.

BOOKER: Don't dwell on those particulars. The real focus should be on the fact that she's brimming with confidence and striving to set an example for her family, says William Rohe. He's the director of Urban and Regional Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel¹³ Hill. One question I have for him, have a significant number of people moved out of public housing since the work requirements have been implemented¹⁴?

WILLIAM ROHE: Well, the answer to that is not many.

BOOKER: Rohe has done extensive research on Charlotte's work requirement program. He says the city is in the middle of a real estate boom. The average rent for a one bedroom - roughly $1,200 a month on the private market, out of reach for many.

ROHE: The people who have gotten jobs have typically gotten low-wage jobs and part-time jobs. And with that kind of salary, you're really not going to be able to afford to rent on the private market.

BOOKER: So should HUD push other housing authorities to follow Charlotte's work requirement model? Rohe emphatically says, no.

ROHE: To have a blanket - every housing authority has to do this would have been an absolute disaster.

BOOKER: He adds, if work requirements lead to a lot of evictions, then it really becomes counterproductive. Brakkton Booker, NPR News, Charlotte.

(SOUNDBITE OF PHILANTHROPE'S "REBIRTH")

1 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

2 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。

3 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。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 mandating   

托管（mandate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Current requirements mandating that committees keep minutes are too general. 目前对委员会要保持详细记录的指令性要求，还是太过一般化了。
• Mandating that workers who quit without permission forfeit a month's wages. 规定工人私自离岗将受到罚没一个月工资的处罚。

6 enrolling   

v.招收( enrol的现在分词 )；吸收；入学；加入；[亦作enrol]( enroll的现在分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They lashed out at the university enrolling system. 他们猛烈抨击大学的招生制度。 来自辞典例句
• You're enrolling in a country club, Billy. 你是注册加入乡村俱乐部了，比利。 来自辞典例句

7 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

8 percolating   

n.渗透v.滤( percolate的现在分词 )；渗透；（思想等）渗透；渗入

参考例句：

• Bubbles simply supply a short cut for the faster-moving percolating gas. 气泡不过是对快速运动的渗透气体提供了一条捷径。 来自辞典例句
• I' ll percolate some coffee, ie make it by percolating. 我去用过滤法煮些咖啡。 来自辞典例句

9 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

10 grilled   

adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• He was grilled for two hours before the police let him go. 他被严厉盘查了两个小时后，警察才放他走。
• He was grilled until he confessed. 他被严加拷问，直到他承认为止。

11 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

13 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

14 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句