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Do you still leave home with money in your pocket?
你还会带着口袋里的钱离开家吗？
Now that many stores have gone “cashless” and most people do not have money in their pocket, those who once depended on handouts from strangers often end the day empty-handed.
现在许多商店已经实行“无现金”支付，大多数人口袋里没有钱了，曾经依赖陌生人施舍的人往往一天结束时手头一空。
Many people without homes or jobs say they are not able to get much money from strangers anymore.
许多没有家和工作的人表示，他们再也不能从陌生人那里得到太多的钱了。
John Littlejohn is 62 years old and lives in Washington, D.C. He said he has been homeless for 13 years. In recent years, he said, people would tell him they left home without any money.
约翰·利特尔约翰（John Littlejohn）今年62岁，住在华盛顿特区。他说他已经流浪了13年。他说，近年来，人们告诉他他们出门时没有带钱。
“I would be out here for six or seven hours and wouldn’t get more than $12 to $15,” he said.
他说：“我会在这里呆上六七个小时，最多只能得到12到15美元。”
People can use apps on their mobile phones to pay for most things, so they do not leave home with bills or coins. For a while, those without homes and charities that depended on spare change suffered.
人们可以使用手机上的应用程序支付大多数东西，因此他们出门时不再携带纸币或硬币。一段时间以来，那些没有家的人和依赖零钱的慈善机构都受到了影响。
But they are using technology, too.
但是他们也在使用技术。
Littlejohn sells copies of a newspaper called Street Sense. It is published by a nonprofit organization that says it helps homeless people. Now people who want to buy the newspaper can use an app. The money goes directly to the seller. Littlejohn is able to pay for an apartment with the money he gets from selling Street Sense and also other jobs he does.
利特尔约翰卖一份名为Street Sense的报纸的副本。它是由一个声称帮助无家可归人的非营利组织出版的。现在想购买报纸的人可以使用一个应用程序，资金直接到达卖家。利特尔约翰能够用他从销售Street Sense和其他工作中获得的钱支付房租。
Some people who stand outside public places such as subway stations and ask for money are called panhandlers. Sylvester Harris is one of them. He talked to a reporter near a subway station close to a large sports center in Washington, D.C. He said people often look like they want to give him money, but they do not have coins or bills.
一些在公共场所外，如地铁站等，要求钱的人被称为乞讨者。西尔维斯特·哈里斯就是其中之一。他在华盛顿特区一个大型体育中心附近的地铁站附近向记者发表了谈话。他说人们经常看起来好像想给他钱，但他们没有硬币或纸币。
“Everybody just has (credit cards) or their phones now,” he said.
他说：“现在每个人都只有（信用卡）或手机。”
Homeless people often do not have bank accounts, credit cards or real identification that would permit them to use a mobile phone app to get money.
无家可归的人通常没有银行账户、信用卡或真实的身份证明，这使得他们无法使用手机应用程序获取资金。
The cashless society also used to be a problem for a charity organization called the Salvation Army. The group is known for sending people to stand in busy places with a big red cooking pot, known as a kettle. People walk past the kettle and drop a dollar or a few coins inside.
然而，无现金社会也曾经是一个救世军慈善组织的问题。该组织以派遣人们站在繁忙地区，提着一个大红色炊具罐，即所谓的水壶，而闻名。人们路过这个水壶，投入一美元或几个硬币。
However, as more people started using their phones and credit cards to make payments, the Salvation Army was receiving less money.
然而，随着更多的人开始使用手机和信用卡进行支付，救世军收到的钱越来越少。
Now, the organization permits people to make donations by tapping their phones on the red kettle.
现在，该组织允许人们通过将手机轻敲在红色水壶上来捐款。
Michelle Wolf is with the Salvation Army in Washington. She said the technology is only available in a few places around the city, but it already has brought in more money.
米歇尔·沃尔夫（Michelle Wolf）在华盛顿的救世军工作。她说，这项技术仅在城市周围的一些地方可用，但已经带来了更多的资金。
Most people give $5 and often people give $20, she said.
她说，大多数人捐赠5美元，而且通常人们会捐赠20美元。
The head of Street Sense said he started to see a problem about 10 years ago. Those who sold his newspapers said people did not have money to buy them.
Street Sense的负责人说他大约10年前开始看到一个问题。那些销售他的报纸的人说人们没有钱买。
“We were losing sales,” said Brian Canmore. “Times were changing, and we had to change with them.”
布莱恩·坎摩尔说：“我们的销售正在下降。时代在变，我们必须跟着变。”
He heard that a similar newspaper in Vancouver, Canada created a payment app. Now the newspaper in Washington uses the same technology.
他听说加拿大温哥华的一家类似报纸创建了一个支付应用程序。现在，华盛顿的报纸也使用同样的技术。
Thomas Ratliff also works for Street Sense. He is in charge of the 100 sellers around Washington. He said a big problem started in 2020 when many workers stayed home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
托马斯·拉特利夫（Thomas Ratliff）也在Street Sense工作。他负责华盛顿周围的100名销售员。他说，一个大问题始于2020年，当时由于COVID-19大流行，许多工人留在家里。
He said people who came to Washington for work were the main buyers of the newspaper. Many of those people are still not coming into the city. Now the sellers take the subway to busier areas outside of Washington, D.C. in Maryland and Virginia to sell the papers.
他说，来华盛顿工作的人是报纸的主要购买者。许多这些人仍然没有进城。现在，销售员搭乘地铁前往华盛顿特区以外的马里兰和弗吉尼亚州繁忙地区销售报纸。
Ratliff noted that some payment apps that do not require a bank account -- Venmo and Cash App – still require a steady mobile phone number. But the sellers often change their number and then they have trouble getting paid.
拉特利夫指出，一些不需要银行账户的支付应用程序，如Venmo和Cash App，仍然需要稳定的手机号码。但销售员经常更改他们的号码，然后他们就难以获得报酬。
There is a way for homeless people without jobs to get money in the cashless society. They can use the Samaritan app. It permits people to give money to someone just by scanning a special code – a QR code – with their phone. People who scan the code can read a story about the person and donate money that is meant to be used for buying food or clothing.
在无现金社会中，无家可归的人没有工作可以通过一种方式获得钱。他们可以使用Samaritan应用程序。这允许人们通过使用手机扫描特殊代码（QR码）来给某人捐款。扫描代码的人可以阅读有关这个人的故事，并捐款用于购买食物或衣物。
Jon Kumar started the Samaritan app. Charities pay him to use his technology for their work. He said it is hard to walk past a person when you know their story. His app, he said, “personalizes the person in need.”
乔恩·库马尔（Jon Kumar）创办了Samaritan应用程序。慈善机构支付他使用他的技术进行工作。他说，当你了解一个人的故事时，很难走过去。他说他的应用程序“个性化了需要帮助的人”。
The people who use the app to ask for money must meet with a case manager to claim their money. The manager can also help the person with services, such as directing them to counseling or drug rehabilitation.
使用该应用程序请求资金的人必须与案例经理会面以领取他们的钱。经理还可以帮助这个人获取服务，比如引导他们接受咨询或戒毒。
None of the apps or new technology will solve every problem for homeless people. Many people do not have the ability to sell newspapers, for example. Others are too old to work so they depend on asking people for money. Not everyone has a mobile phone.
应用程序或新技术都不能解决无家可归者的所有问题。例如，许多人没有卖报纸的能力。还有一些人年纪太大，无法工作，因此依赖向人们要钱。并非每个人都有手机。
Kumar said some people are “not a great fit” for this kind of intervention. He said some people need more support than a phone app can offer.
库马尔表示，有些人“并不适合”这种干预方式。他说有些人需要比手机应用程序更多的支持。
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Words in This Story
pocket –n. a small cloth container sewed into some clothing
app (application) –n. a computer application.
charity—n. a not-for-profit organization that aims to do some good in society
spare –adj. something that is extra
tap –v. to lightly touch
scan –v. to use a machine to take a picture to record an image of something like a document or other media
code (QR) –n. a special sign that can be scanned and which directs the scanning device to a website that provides additional information
rehabilitation –n. the process of trying to bring someone back to normal or health after an illness, drug problem or similar difficulty
