商业周刊:为无家可归者寻找安睡之地(1)

An App Tries to Find Beds for The Homeless

为无家可归者寻找安睡之地的应用

The epicenter of innovation is turning to software to help the most vulnerable get off the streets

创新之地美国正在研发软件，帮助无家可归者告别露宿街头的生活。

On paper, it looks as if San Francisco shouldn't have a homelessness problem. There are as many permanent housing beds as people who need them.

按理说，旧金山不应该再有露宿街头的人了，需要安睡之地的人都该有地方休憩了。

The city spends hundreds of millions of dollars to help get people off the streets, and last year voters approved a measure to raise $300 million annually¹ to tackle the issue by taxing local companies.

旧金山花费数亿美元帮助无家可归者告别露宿街头的生活，去年选民通过了一项措施，每年筹集3亿美元，通过向当地公司征税来解决这个问题。

Yet there are about 7,500 homeless in the city because of soaring rents and the difficulty of treating substance abuse, mental illness, and other health concerns.

然而，由于房租飞涨以及难以治疗药物滥用、精神疾病和其他健康问题，该市大约有7500名无家可归者。

Now the world capital of innovation and Big Data is betting that streamlined information is the answer.

现在，全球创新及大数据之都的管理者们确信，精简化信息才是解决问题之所在。

City officials have spent the past two years building a digital program called ONE System (for online navigation and entry) that can track and monitor every homeless person in San Francisco.

旧金山市官员花费两年时间建立了一个称为“在线导航入住系统（ONE System）”的数字化程序，可以追踪和监控该市的流浪汉们。

The idea is simple: Collect and sort information associated with the homeless to more effectively assess risk factors, determine those most in need, and get those people into available shelters and transitional housing.

其想法很简单：收集与无家可归者相关的信息，并进行分类，以便更有效地评估风险因素，确定最需要住所的人，让他们住进庇护所和过渡性住房。

But the reality is more complicated. Five months after its introduction, ONE System has helped get only 70 people off the streets as it contends with the same challenges that have plagued past efforts—as well as new ones,

但现实情况更为复杂。在此程序推出五个月后，它只帮助过70个流浪汉找到住所，因为该程序面临着一些挑战，而这些挑战曾困扰旧金山市过去为解决该问题所做的各种努力，未来要进行的新尝试同样也要经受这些挑战的考验。

including persuading the city's most at-risk population to sign on to a program with echoes of Big Brother.

其中包括说服城市最高危人群签署与“老大哥”项目相呼应的计划。

Designed by Nevada startup BitFocus Inc., ONE System collects data from 15 city and state agencies.

由内华达州创业公司BitFocus Inc.设计的ONE System，从15个城市和州机构收集数据。

Homeless participants are asked 17 questions that can help evaluate their individual situation, including time spent on the street, health, and vulnerability.

参与调查的无家可归者回答17个问题，这些问题帮助评估他们的个人情况，包括在街头流浪的时间、健康状况和高危性。

That information—along with a record of the places in the city that a person frequents—is used to create a database that acts as a digital profile,

这些信息连同流浪者经常出现的城市地点记录，会被用来创建一个数据库，作为数字档案。

allowing caseworkers to better coordinate² health, housing, and histories to allocate³ resources instead of sifting⁴ through mountains of paperwork.

使社工更好地协调有关健康、住房情况和个人经历等信息后分配资源，而不用在成山的文件资料中筛选。

"We're trying to build what I think of as an air traffic control system," says Jeff Kositsky, the director of the city's department of homelessness and supportive housing.

旧金山市无家可归和支持性住房部门主管杰夫·科斯基表示：“我们正在努力建立一种空中交通管制系统。”

1 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

2 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

3 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

4 sifting   

n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• He lay on the beach, sifting the sand through his fingers. 他躺在沙滩上用手筛砂子玩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was sifting the cinders when she came in. 她进来时，我正在筛煤渣。 来自辞典例句