密歇根新闻广播 职业培训对单亲妈妈而言远远不够

 

Social assistance programs that serve the poor are targeted for budget cuts in President Trump’s proposed budget.

While Congress approaches its fall deadline to set a federal budget for the next fiscal¹ year, Stateside set out to talk with people whose voice isn’t often a part of the conversation: people who are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, the so-called “working poor”.

Ethel Rucker is from Detroit. She has four kids, two girls and two boys. She's struggled to make ends meet since divorcing her husband.

She says after the split², she tried getting back on her feet. She found a job and started working again. But her children ran into problems at school. As a single mother, all the responsibility fell on her.

“I repeatedly have to step aside to get on the phone to talk with teachers, or other things would happen,” Rucker said. “I would end up either losing a job or getting in trouble because of that, and that’s ultimately³ what led me to being in the shelter.”

Frustrated⁴ with being unable to find a well-paying job even after earning a certificate in computer repair, Rucker wasn’t able to pay the bills needed to keep a roof over her children's heads. She eventually found her way to COTS, a homeless shelter in Detroit.

“I felt that as a mother I was supposed to provide for my children. Not being able to do that, and having to go into the shelter was really hard for me,” Rucker said. “It was one of the hardest decisions I made.”

But at COTS, Rucker found support. She got a life coach through the shelter's Passport to Self-Sufficiency program as well as a mentor⁵ through a project focused on improving the lives of women and children living in poverty at COTS. Rucker is also a photographer and has a campaign to raise money for that business through HandUp.

In 2015, Rucker left the homeless shelter. She found a house for her family that she’s able to afford. Rucker says the past few years has been the most stable living conditions her and her children have ever had.

In the long term, Rucker wants to earn her college degree, get her kids into good schools, and become totally independent from state aid.

“Even though I have stable housing right now, it’s still a challenge with my children and their schools. I have two boys who are ADHD, so I still have challenges with their teachers calling me, … and that can ultimately affect my employment because I’m single, so I have to take care of those things,” Rucker said. “I’m hoping, praying that in the next five years [a college degree] will be something I’m able to accomplish, but I’m working hard towards that.”

Rucker says she’s feeling more positive about her life now, thanks to the support she’s received through contacts at COTS.

“This is the most stable I’ve been, these past two years, and I look forward to the future now because I have this extra support,” Rucker said.

1 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

2 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

3 ultimately   

adv.最后地，最终地，首要地，基本地

参考例句：

• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience.那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。
• Vitamin C deficiency can ultimately lead to scurvy.缺乏维生素C最终能道致坏血病。

4 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。