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Don't you love a good nap?
你一定喜欢睡午觉吧？
Just stealing away that small block of time to curl up on your couch for that sweet moment of escape.
借着偷走的一点光阴，蜷缩在你的沙发上，仿佛逃离了整个世界。
It's one of my favorite things, but something I took for granted before I began experiencing homelessness as a teenager.
这是我很喜欢做的一件事，是我认为理所当然的事，直到我成了一个无家可归的青少年。
The ability to take a nap is only reserved for stability and sureness,
睡午觉的特权是只给有着稳定生活的人预留的，
something you can't find when you're carrying everything you own in your book bag
这种特权是可能被剥夺的，当你把所有的家当都背在身上的时候，
and carefully counting the amount of time you're allowed to sit in any given place before being asked to leave.
当你要小心数着每一刻坐在一个地方的光阴的时候，因为你下一刻就可能被赶走。
I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, bouncing from house to house
我在美国乔治亚州的亚特兰大长大，从一个地方辗转到另一个地方，
with a loving, close-knit family as we struggled to find stability in our finances.
我有一个充满爱的亲密家庭，虽然我们的经济状况不太稳定。
But when my mom temporarily lost herself to mania and when that mania chose me as its primary scapegoat
但是当我的妈妈患上精神病，并把我当做替罪羊的时候，
through both emotional and physical abuse, I fled for my safety.
当我经受情感上和肉体上的虐待的时候，为了我的人身安全，我逃离了。
I had come to the conclusion that homelessness was safer for me than being at home. I was 16.
我得出结论，比起回家，无家可归对我来说是个更安全的选择。那时我16岁。
During my homelessness, I joined Atlanta's 3,300 homeless youth in feeling uncared for, left out and invisible each night.
无家可归的我成了亚特兰大3300名无家可归的青少年中的一员，夜幕降临时，感觉无人关心、被抛弃、成了隐形人。
There wasn't and still is not any place for a homeless minor to walk off the street to access a bed.
那时候没有，至今也还没有一个无家可归的未成年人可以去并睡上一觉的地方。
I realized that most people thought of homelessness as some kind of lazy, drug-induced squalor and inconvenience,
我知道，很多人觉得无家可归的人都是懒惰的、有毒瘾的、肮脏的社会负担，
but that didn't represent my book bag full of clothes and schoolbooks, or my A+ grade point average.
但这不能代表我那个装满了衣服和书的书包和我全优的成绩。
I would sit on my favorite bench downtown and watch as the hours passed by
我会坐在市中心最爱的长椅上，看着时光流逝，
until I could sneak in a few hours of sleep on couches, in cars, in buildings or in storage units.
直到我能够偷偷睡上几个小时，不管是在沙发上、车上，还是在楼里或仓库里。
I, like thousands of other homeless youth, disappeared into the shadows of the city
像上千名无家可归的其他青少年一样，我消失在了这个城市的影子里，
while the whole world kept spinning as if nothing at all had gone terribly wrong.
而世界依然在不停转动，就好像什么都没发生一样。
The invisibility alone almost completely broke my spirit.
仅仅这种隐形感就几乎彻底击垮了我。
But when I had nothing else, I had the arts, something that didn't demand material wealth from me in exchange for refuge.
但是当我一无所有的时候，我还有艺术，它不向我索取任何回报作为交换。
A few hours of singing, writing poetry or saving up enough money to disappear into another world at a play
几个小时的唱歌、写诗，或者攒足够的钱然后消失到一个戏剧的世界里，
kept me going and jolting me back to life when I felt at my lowest.
它们让我坚持下去，并在我最低迷的时候把我拉了回来。
I would go to church services on Wednesday evenings and, desperate for the relief the arts gave me,
每个星期三晚上我都会去教堂，如此渴望艺术带给我的心灵放松，
I would go a few hours early, slip downstairs and into a part of the world
我通常会提前几个小时去，然后溜到楼下，进入另一个世界，
where the only thing that mattered was whether or not I could hit the right note in the song I was perfecting that week.
那里唯一重要的事情就是我能不能把我那个星期练的那首歌的旋律唱准。
I would sing for hours. It gave me so much strength to give myself permission to just block it all out and sing.
我会练上好几个小时。它给了我力量，让我允许自己忘记一切并尽情歌唱。
Five years later, I started my organization, ChopArt, which is a multidisciplinary arts organization for homeless minors.
五年后，我创办了自己的组织ChopArt，这是一个针对无家可归的青少年的多学科艺术组织。
ChopArt uses the arts as a tool for trauma recovery
ChopArt借助艺术这个工具来修复创伤，
by taking what we know about building community and restoring dignity and applying that to the creative process.
将我们对打造社区、重塑尊严的认识，运用到艺术创作的过程中去。
ChopArt is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with additional programs in Hyderabad, India, and Accra, Ghana,
ChopArt的总部在乔治亚州的亚特兰大，在印度的海德拉巴和加纳的阿克拉也有项目，
and since our start in 2010, we've served over 40,000 teens worldwide.
从2010年创立至今，我们已经服务了全球4万名青少年。
Our teens take refuge in the transformative elements of the arts,
我们的青少年在艺术的魔力中找到慰藉，
and they depend on the safe space ChopArt provides for them to do that.
他们需要ChopArt给他们提供这样的安全空间。
An often invisible population uses the arts to step into their light, but that journey out of invisibility is not an easy one.
隐形的人群可以借助艺术站到灯光下，但是踏出那个隐形的区域却并不是那么容易的。
We have a sibling pair, Jeremy and Kelly, who have been with our program for over three years.
我们有一对兄妹，杰里米和凯莉，他们来我们机构已经三年多了。
They come to the ChopArt classes every Wednesday evening.
他们每个星期三晚上都会来上ChopArt的课。
But about a year ago, Jeremy and Kelly witnessed their mom seize and die right in front of them.
但是大约一年前，杰里米和凯莉亲眼目睹了他们的母亲病情发作并死亡。
They watched as the paramedics failed to revive her.
他们亲眼看着急救医护人员未能抢救回她的生命。
They cried as their father signed over temporary custody to their ChopArt mentor, Erin,
他们哭着，看着他们的父亲把临时监护权签给了ChopArt的艾琳老师，
without even allowing them to take an extra pair of clothes on their way out.
他们甚至都没来得及在出门时多拿上一件衣服。
This series of events broke my heart, but Jeremy and Kelly's faith and resolve in ChopArt is what keeps me grounded in this work.
这件事让我感到心碎，但是杰里米和凯莉对ChopArt的信仰和决心，是鼓励我坚持做这项工作的动力。
Kelly calling Erin in her lowest moment, knowing that Erin would do whatever she could to make them feel loved and cared for,
凯莉会在最低落的时候给艾琳打电话，因为她知道艾琳会尽自己最大的努力让他们感觉到被爱和被关心，
is proof to me that by using the arts as the entry point, we can heal and build our homeless youth population.
这些都让我相信用艺术作为切入点，我们可以给无家可归的青少年人群疗伤，帮助他们重建生活。
And we continue to build. We build with Devin,
我们的脚步一刻也没有停下。我们帮助德文重建生活，
who became homeless with his family when his mom had to choose between medical bills or the rent.
德文变得无家可归是因为他妈妈不得不在医疗账单和房租之间做出选择。
He discovered his love of painting through ChopArt.
他通过ChopArt发现了自己对油画的热爱。
We build with Liz, who has been on the streets most of her teenage years
我们帮助丽兹重建生活，她的整个青少年时代几乎都是在大街上度过的，
but turns to music to return to herself when her traumas feel too heavy for her young shoulders.
但是她通过音乐找回自己，尤其在她年轻的肩膀不堪重压的时候。
We build for Maria, who uses poetry to heal after her grandfather died in the van she's living in with the rest of her family.
我们帮助玛利亚重建生活，她用诗歌疗伤，在她的祖父在面包车中死去后，她和她的家人现在住在车里面。
And so to the youth out there experiencing homelessness, let me tell you, you have the power to build within you.
无家可归的青少年们，让我告诉你们，你们内心有重建生活的力量。
You have a voice through the arts that doesn't judge what you've been through.
你可以通过艺术找到你的声音，艺术不会评判你的过往。
So never stop fighting to stand in your light because even in your darkest times, we see you. Thank you.
永远不要放弃站到灯光下的努力，因为即使在你最黑暗的时刻，我们也在注视着你！谢谢！
