Richard J. Berry: A practical way to help the homeless find work and safety
Richard J. Berry: Una manera práctica de ayudar a los sin techo a encontrar trabajo y seguridad
Richard J. Berry is the mayor of Albuquerque -- the 32nd largest city in America and the largest city in New Mexico. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
if you've seen somebody in your city
si han visto a alguien en su ciudad
holding a sign like this.
sujetando un cartel como este.
¿se han preguntado si es verdad?
have you wondered if they mean it?
would they really take it?
¿de verdad lo tomarían?
to them in their lives?
este trabajo en sus vidas?
about what happened in my city
de lo que pasó en mi ciudad
about panhandling,
de manera diferente sobre mendigar,
through the dignity of work.
a ganarse un trabajo digno.
para ganarse el dinero
to get the money you need
to help your brothers and sisters in need
para ayudar a tus hermanos y hermanas
out the car window.
por la ventanilla del auto.
es más propensa a invertir en sí misma
likely to invest in themselves
desea invertir en ellos primero.
is willing to invest in them first.
to be kind and compassionate,
para ser amables y compasivos,
a couple of dollars to someone
cuando da un par de dólares a alguien
many of them will tell you
muchos de ellos dirán
go towards feeding the body,
no van a la compra de comida,
jobs in the world.
trabajos de mundo.
of a great American city,
magnífica ciudad en EE.UU.,
in my great American city,
en mi fabulosa ciudad en EE. UU.,
debajo de una señal azul,
underneath a blue sign,
"Si necesita ayuda, comida o refugio,
if you need food or shelter
our community service number.
número de atención al ciudadano".
underneath my sign with his sign?
con su cartel debajo de mi señal?
if anybody would call that 311 sign,
si alguien llamaría al 311 de la señal
with food and shelter and services.
alimentarios y alojamiento.
something rare in government.
algo nuevo en el gobierno.
rather than more complicated.
solución más simple a algo tan complicado.
I gathered my staff around
reuní al personal presente
to take this man at his word,
lo que dice este señor
we're going to give him a job,
vamos a darle un trabajo.
an even better place in the meantime."
de esta nuestra ciudad".
the center of the city;
el centro de la ciudad;
International Balloon Fiesta.
de Globos de Albuquerque.
and golf this afternoon.
y jugar al golf por la tarde.
como esta en la ciudad
like this in your city,
por hacer en la ciudad?
left to do in your city?
el teléfono de tu alcalde?
your mayor's phone number,
you have to ask is this:
que hay que hacerse es:
contra la mendicidad?
approach like we used to,
como solíamos hacer antes,
or those who give them money,
dando dinero a los mendigos,
that your solutions aren't working,
esas propuestas no funcionan.
to the root of your problem in your city.
del problema de la ciudad.
that need something to do,
que busca algo que hacer,
it's not that complicated.
es que no es tan complicado.
not doing anything.
wrapped it with a logo.
y le adjuntamos un logo.
where our panhandlers are --
por las calles en busca de mendigos...
would like a day's work
querrían pasar el día
si realmente lo toman en serio...
if they really mean it --
en llenar la furgoneta por la mañana.
to fill this van up in the morning,
al que preguntamos prefiere trabajar.
takes a job for the day.
human being to drive that van.
súper fantástico que la conduzca.
his name is Will.
there's a Will, there's a way."
"A quien Will sigue, la consigue".
the Better Way campaign in your city,
de Un camino mejor
to making this successful
hacer que esto tenga éxito
un socio sin fines lucrativos.
el centro de acogida de San Martín.
for over 30 years.
más de 30 años.
for me as the mayor.
with the city of Albuquerque.
sin fines lucrativos...
there's a panhandler,
to work for the day?"
Volveremos en 6 semanas a recogerte".
in six weeks to pick you up."
that agility in our program.
nuestro programa sea ágil.
that I can't do quickly.
que yo no puedo hacer.
nine dollars an hour.
9 dólares la hora.
una vez en el trabajo.
devuelven a San Martín
right back to St. Martin's,
with counseling services.
and a couple days a week,
y un par de días a la semana,
and a Dodge van,
y nuestra furgoneta Dodge,
in the city of Albuquerque.
en la ciudad de Albuquerque.
of trash, weeds and litter.
53 070 kg de basura y desperdicios.
weighed a tumbleweed,
han pesado una planta rodadora,
of material that we've picked up.
la cantidad de basura que hemos recogido.
than my solid waste department.
que mi departamento de desperdicios.
at the end of the day,
enviamos nuestros camiones.
a cargar los camiones
put into the truck
que han recogido durante el día
during the day,
con hombro con nuestros mendigos.
with our panhandlers.
while lifting up their lives.
a la vez que limpian sus vidas.
listen, it takes resources.
escuchen, requiere de recursos.
la confianza de la comunidad.
that up in years prior to Better Way.
desarrollado antes que este programa.
"Albuquerque Heading Home,"
"Albuquerque: A casa",
the chronically homeless,
dónde dábamos refugio a los sin techo.
we wanted to do that differently,
que queríamos hacerlo de otra manera,
to do the right thing.
mejor para hacer lo correcto".
homeless, medically vulnerable --
a 650 sintecho vulnerables médicamente,
en las calles de nuestra ciudad.
on the streets in our city.
they studied it.
we can save you 31.6 percent
que les ahorraríamos un 31.6 %
to struggle for survival on the streets.
de dejar a alguien a merced de las calles.
while housing 650 people.
hemos ahorrado 5 millones de dólares.
la confianza de la comunidad.
of an honest conversation also
que tener una mentalidad más sincera
5 dólares por la ventana,
those five dollars out the window,
their opportunity
Aquí el por qué:
and here's why:
podrían ir destinados a comida rápida
to buying some fast food today --
drugs and alcohol.
compran drogas y alcohol.
de nuestros refugios
food banks or food pantries,
bancos de alimentos locales
20 people with that money.
tiene 600 000 habitantes,
is 600,000 people -- million, metro --
somos muy grandes o muy pequeños".
we're too big, we're too small."
Si hay un mendigo en su barrio
one panhandler on one city block,
de 8,5 millones de personas,
of eight-and-half million people,
sino la dignidad de tener trabajo.
it's the dignity of the work.
con respecto y dignidad,
with dignity and respect,
maybe in their life,
incluso en toda su vida,
as much as it's your city,
tanto como la tuya,
to make our place better,
para hacer de este un lugar mejor,
isn't the answer to all their problems,
no es la solución a sus problemas,
and they start working together,
y empiezan a trabajar juntos
que eso marca la diferencia.
the fact that they can make a difference.
al Centro de San Martín,
in that old Dodge van,
se registren para otros servicios:
for whatever services they need --
sobre salud mental, etc.
counseling, you name it.
about 1,700 days of day work.
unos 1700 días de trabajo.
to permanent employment opportunities.
disfruten de contratos permanentes.
for our Housing First model,
para el primer proyecto de vivienda,
y de salud mental
who's homeless, like we do,
que no tiene casa, como siempre,
figuring out where he's from,
averiguamos de donde viene,
that the guy was holding in 2015,
la misma señal que la del señor de 2015,
Is it really making a difference?
¿de verdad hacemos una diferencia?
one of the national leaders
una de las ciudades líderes nacionales
and persistent social issues
más difíciles y persistentes
"Rumbo a casa"
homelessness in our city
homeless population in our city
con desamparo crónico en la ciudad
veteran homelessness
con el desamparo veterano
that other cities are hearing about this,
otras ciudades pongan atención en esto,
en marcha programas
of work to the equation.
la dignidad de trabajar.
what their experiment looks like,
cómo son sus propuestas,
a collective approach nationally
their nonprofits --
sobre estos persistentes temas sociales?
about these persistent social issues?
a gente de tu comunidad
in your community
profoundly better in many ways?
sea mejor en todos los sentidos?
I promise you there is a better way.
prometo que existe un camino mejor.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Richard J. Berry - Mayor of AlbuquerqueRichard J. Berry is the mayor of Albuquerque -- the 32nd largest city in America and the largest city in New Mexico.
Why you should listen
Richard J. Berry was elected mayor of Albuquerque in 2009. Prior to serving as mayor, Berry was elected twice as a State Representative to the New Mexico State Legislature, and he owned a successful Albuquerque construction company for decades that conducted business throughout the Southwest United States.
On his watch, Albuquerque was ranked second Best Run City in the nation with a population of over 500,000. Berry has reduced the size of city government and held budget growth to below inflation each year -- all while maintaining a high level of service to taxpayers and city residents. Also under the his leadership, Albuquerque was recently named as the 6th most technologically advanced city in America.
Berry was recently recognized as one of the Most Inspirational People in America by the Washington Post, largely due to the success of a program called "There's a Better Way," which takes a new approach to addressing panhandling by providing the homeless with opportunities to work for the City and connect them to resources and help.
Berry has been married to his wife, Maria, for 26 years and they have one son, Jacob, who serves in the Army Corps of Cadets while studying at Texas A&M University.
Richard J. Berry | Speaker | TED.com