美国国家公共电台 NPR Women Of LA's Skid Row Tell Their Stories Through The Anger, Despair On Their Faces

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right. Homelessness here in Los Angeles has gone down by 5 percent according to the city's annual count that was released yesterday. The one area where numbers increase, though - the unsheltered homeless, up 32 percent over the past two years. In 2016, reporter Gloria Hillard reported on the dangers women face unsheltered on LA's skid¹ row, and she recently returned.

GLORIA HILLARD, BYLINE²: What has changed on skid row since I was here two years ago? The one thing, the sidewalks have disappeared, hidden beneath sagging³ tents and what spills from them - bicycle tires, condoms, blankets, stuffed animals and hypodermic needles.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLICE SIRENS)

HILLARD: So now everyone walks in the middle of the street, dodging⁴ the cars that speed up just to get through this place. One woman, tall with blond-gray hair, is moving quickly, headed to a daytime shelter down the street.

DEON JOSEPH: As fast as she can to the mission and get inside, where it's much safer.

HILLARD: That's LAPD Officer Deon Joseph. It's 10:30 in the morning.

JOSEPH: Now there's no difference between day and night.

HILLARD: Joseph has been working on skid row for 20 years, but it's never been this bad.

JOSEPH: Whenever I see a new face, especially a woman, I tell them the rules. Don't borrow money from anybody because once you do that, you are bought and paid for. There was a woman here who was forced by the Grape Street Crips to give up her entire Social Security check every month to be able to stay on the block.

HILLARD: A few feet away, a woman in a bright pink T-shirt is trying to clean up the litter in front of her tent. Fifty-seven-year-old Debra Williams says she's trying to keep it like a house. She's been here five months.

DEBRA WILLIAMS: And five months too long. I'm trying to get out of here. I know it's too old to be down here, but things happen.

GEORGIA BERKOVICH: They are you or me, divided by circumstance.

HILLARD: Georgia Berkovich is with The Midnight Mission.

BERKOVICH: It's a catastrophic illness in the family that depleted⁵ their savings⁶. It's victims of domestic violence who would rather live on the street than be with their abuser.

HILLARD: Berkovich says one of the circumstances increasingly impacting women is the lack of affordable⁷ housing. Of course, one never imagines they'll end up on skid row, she says.

BERKOVICH: First you'd stay with some friends. Maybe you'd stay with some family. And maybe you'd wear out your welcome and say, well, you know what, we'll just go stay in our car.

HILLARD: The next step, she says, is usually a shelter. But most of the shelters are full, so you get a tent.

BERKOVICH: But now the drug dealers⁸ and pimps take over your tent. Now you're doing things that you swore you'd never do.

HILLARD: Many of the women on the street pull suitcases behind them. Fifty-one-year-old Joyce Robles is one of them. She wears a heavy camouflage⁹ jacket, and it's a very hot day.

JOYCE ROBLES: My husband passed away about three years ago.

HILLARD: She's been living on the streets for two.

ROBLES: I've been raped¹⁰. I've been stabbed. I've been gang - you know, it's been hard out here for me.

HILLARD: You can guess how long people have been here by the anger or despair on their faces, their clothing, the way they walk. The two young women coming out of the Downtown Women's Center had none of the telltale signs of homelessness.

CAT GREER: We just got here from Louisville three months ago.

HILLARD: Cat Greer and her partner, who is deaf, were dropped off at the downtown Greyhound station blocks away. They hadn't even heard of skid row.

GREER: We still can't find a place to live. There's no way to find a place to live together.

HILLARD: They feel lucky a shelter took them in. They insist it's only temporary. As I said goodbye, I hoped that was true because here, they say, with each passing day, leaving is less of an option. For NPR News, I'm Gloria Hillard.

(SOUNDBITE OF KAKI KING'S "OOBLECK")

1 skid   

v.打滑 n.滑向一侧；滑道 ，滑轨

参考例句：

• He braked suddenly,causing the front wheels to skid.他突然剎车，使得前轮打了滑。
• The police examined the skid marks to see how fast the car had been travelling.警察检查了车轮滑行痕迹，以判断汽车当时开得有多快。

2 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。

3 sagging   

下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。
• We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。

4 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

5 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 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。

8 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

9 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

10 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句