Confronting Homelessness
Closing of day-time shelter brings new urgency to confronting homelessness
Bread and Jam, a daytime, drop-in shelter here in Cambridge, works to improve the situation by providing food and shelter to those who need it. After decades in operation, that shelter will close its doors on March 25, 2014. Changes in federal funding—which will now prioritize permanent housing solutions over street outreach—meanthat many programs helping the homeless right outside our door are being shut down. While we admire the federal government’s efforts to fund permanent housing for the homeless, the corresponding shift of funding away from daytime shelters like Bread and Jam will literally leave people out in the cold. Now, more than ever, it’s important that both students and governments to make eradicating homelessness a priority.
According to the City of Boston Homeless Census, 85 percent of both temporarily and chronically homeless people in Boston suffer from a mental illness, a disabling condition, substance abuse, or a physical disability, all of which require support and attention from society. Daytime shelters like Bread and Jam provide much of that support, and they are already strained and overflowing, unable to provide services to all those who need them. The closing of Bread and Jam will therefore be keenly felt among Cambridge’s homeless population. The only other such program in the Square is Youth on Fire, a drop-in center for homeless individuals under 24 years of age that is located near the law school. Yet that shelter too will soon leave the Square: It plans torelocate to Central, also citing cuts in federal funding.
The closing of Bread and Jam will exacerbate the already pervasive problem of homelessness, and both students and the government should prioritize ensuring that all people have access to safe shelter. For the government, this can mean re-examining policies that shift funding from street shelters without guaranteeing a replacement to fill the void. For students, making a difference can mean volunteering at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, which is run and staffed primarily by College students through Phillips Brooks House. We should all try to be more cognizant of the issue and redouble our efforts to make homelessness a thing of the past.
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Pink Palace, Former Boston Common Bathroom, To Reopen As Earl ...
www.huffingtonpost.com/.../pink-palace-boston-restaurant_n_944725.ht...
Aug 31, 2011 - BOSTON -- A former bathroom in the nation's oldest public park is being converted into a sandwich shop. The 660-square-foot Pink Palace ...BOSTON -- A former public bathroom in an historic Boston park is being turned into a sandwich shop.
Don't get grossed out. The 660-square-foot "Pink Palace" on Boston Common built in the 1920s hasn't been used as a restroom in decades.
City officials announced Tuesday they have agreed to a 15-year lease with the Florida-based Earl of Sandwich chain for a takeout operation at the site. The goal is to open the shop later this year or early next year following renovations.
Boston Parks Department Commissioner Toni Pollak says the project is a chance to preserve the historic mausoleum-like structure while bringing new life to the Common.
Associated Press
中英對照讀新聞／Boston turns former bathroom into eatery 波士頓把前公廁改造為小吃店
◎張沛元
A former public bathroom in an historic Boston park is being turned into a sandwich shop.
位於一座具有歷史意義的波士頓公園裡的一個前公共廁所，將被改頭換面變成一家三明治店。
Don’t get grossed out. The 660-square-foot "Pink Palace" on Boston Common built in the 1920s hasn’t been used as a restroom in decades.
別覺得噁心。位於波士頓市民公園內、面積660平方英尺的「粉紅宮殿」，建於1920年代，已有數十年沒有被當成廁所來使用。
City officials announced Tuesday they have agreed to a 15-year lease with the Florida-based Earl of Sandwich chain for a takeout operation at the site. The goal is to open the shop later this year or early next year following renovations.
市府官員週二宣佈，他們已同意與總部設在佛羅里達州的連鎖店「三明治伯爵」，簽署一份租用該地點15年、提供外帶服務的租約。最終目標是在將該地點翻新整修後，於今年稍後或明年初開店。
Boston Parks Department Commissioner Toni Pollak says the project is a chance to preserve the historic mausoleum-like structure while bringing new life to the Common.
波士頓公園處專員東尼．波拉克說，該計畫是一個保存具有歷史意義、但陰森有如陵墓的建築物，同時又能為市民公園帶來新生命的良機。
新聞辭典
turn （someone or something ） into ：慣用語，使變成……。例句：The magician tried to turn the parrot into a dove.（魔術師企圖把鸚鵡變成鴿子。）
bathroom：名詞，浴室，廁所（美式用法）。use the bathroom：上廁所（委婉說法）。例句：Could I use your bathroom?（我可以借用你的洗手間嗎？）
gross out：俚語，覺得噁心想吐。例句：The trick in making a family film...is finding ways to interest grown-ups without boring, confusing, or grossing out the younger set" （Christian Science Monitor）.（拍攝家庭電影的秘訣在於……找出既能讓大人感興趣，但又不會讓年輕人覺無聊、困惑或噁心的方法。語出基督教科學箴言報。）
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