汉娜·泰勒：帮无家可归者找到归宿的暖心女孩

By+Neale+McDevitt

A mother driving with her five-year-old daughter in the backseat takes a wrong turn and ends up in a dark back alley， forever altering the young girl's life. It sounds like the sad beginning of dramatic film1） but quite the opposite is true—this is a real-life story.

The little girl was Hannah Taylor， now a 19-year-old Arts undergraduate2） finishing her first year at McGill3）. Taylor remembers that fateful day like it was yesterday. "It was December in Winnipeg so it was freezing cold and snow covered. I looked out my window and I saw a man searching through a garbage dumpster for food，" she says. "I asked my mother why he was doing that and she said he had to do that to eat."

"I had never seen homelessness and I was struck by it，" she says. "My five-year-old heart just wouldn't let it go."

And when Taylor says she wouldn't let it go， she means it. She questioned her parents almost daily for a year. Why did people have to live in the street？ Where did they sleep？ Wasn't there enough food and homes for everyone？ Why didn't anyone help？

"I worried about this man and， as I learned more about homelessness in Winnipeg and in Canada， I began to worry about everyone living in those conditions."

一个妈妈开车，后座坐着她五岁的女儿，她转错了弯，结果开到了一个黑乎乎的后巷里，从此改变了这个小女孩的一生。这听起来像是剧情片伤感的开头，但恰恰相反，这是真的，是一个真实的故事。

这个小女孩就是汉娜·泰勒，今年19岁，现在（编注：英文原文发表于2015年4月）是麦吉尔大学艺术系的一名学生，即将读完大一。泰勒还记得那意义重大的一天，仿佛那就是昨日。“当时是12月的温尼伯（译注：加拿大的一个城市），所以冷极了，到处覆盖着白雪。我从车窗往外看，看到一个男人在一个垃圾箱里翻找食物，”她说，“我问妈妈那个男人为什么要这么做，她说他必须要那样做才有东西吃。”

“我以前从没见过无家可归的人，那一幕让我深受触动，”她说，“当时才五岁的我就是没办法忘掉这一幕。”

而当泰勒说她没办法忘掉这一幕时，她是认真的。此后的一年里，她几乎每天都会向爸爸妈妈提出疑问。为什么有的人不得不住在大街上？他们睡在哪里？没有足够的食物和住所提供给每个人吗？为什么没有一个人帮助他们呢？

“我很担心这个男人，随着我对温尼伯和加拿大无家可归者的现状有了更多的了解，我开始担心处在这种条件下的每一个人。”

1. dramatic film： 剧情片

2. undergraduate [??nd??ɡr?d?u?t] n. 大学本科生

3. McGill： 麦吉尔大学，简称麦吉尔，位于蒙特利尔，是加拿大最古老的高等学府，建校近两百年以来一直在国际上享有盛誉，被誉为“加拿大哈佛”。

4. set the wheels in motion： 使某事开始运转、实施

5. tuck （sb.） in： 把……的被子掖好

6. close to one's heart： 为某人所重视关心；为某人所爱

7. ladybug [?le?dib?ɡ] n. 瓢蟲

8. good luck charm： 能带来好运的小饰品。charm [t?ɑ?m] n. 随身护符；（手链或手镯上的）吉祥小饰物

Set the wheels in motion4）

One night， Taylor—who had just turned six—asked her mother another question about homelessness as she was being tucked in5） for the night. "My mom said to me， 'You know， Hannah， maybe if you do something about it， your heart won't feel so bad.'"

And that set the wheels in motion， wheels that， 13 years later， show no signs of stopping.

Taylor did a presentation about homelessness to her Grade One class and organized a campaign to collect food， coffee and clothing for a local shelter. To her delight， her classmates matched her enthusiasm. "I saw that people wanted to help—they just don't know how to start，" says Taylor. "In the case of my Grade One class， when they were given the opportunity to help， everyone immediately came up with their own great ideas."

But for Taylor， this was not a one-and-done project. Encouraged by the success of her first move， she kept at it， raising both money for and awareness for a cause that was so close to her heart6）. Over the following years， she met with business leaders and politicians， flew around the country for speaking engagements and collected money in jars decorated with ladybugs7）—her good luck charms8）.

Jars of money become a Foundation

In 2004， Taylor had raised enough money to launch The Ladybug Foundation， a non-profit charitable foundation that supports other charities across Canada in providing food， shelter and support for the homeless. She was eight. Today， Taylor is the CEO of the Lady Bug Foundation， which to date， has raised over $4 million for dozens of frontlinesoup kitchens9）， emergency shelters， food banks10） and youth shelters.

Also in 2004， Taylor founded her second registered charity—The Ladybug Foundation Education Program， a kindergarten to grade 12 classroom resource designed to teach kids how to make a change in their own community， country and throughout the world. "When I speak at schools， I see kids have that light bulb moment11） where they say 'Hey if she can do it， so can I'. We don't give kids enough credit， but they do care and they are driven to help change things. They just need the tools."

And Taylor knows that， in order to make a change， the best tool one can have is knowledge. "Education—formal and experiential—is the key，" she says. "That's why so much of the work we do with the Ladybug Foundation is to raise awareness. Before people can do， they need to know." Which made McGill the logical place for Taylor to pursue her studies.

Since starting at McGill last September， Taylor has had to reduce her Ladybug Foundation activities somewhat in order to concentrate on her studies—although she has still managed to do a few speaking engagements via Skype12）. Having declared her major in International Development， States and Governance， her plan is to get a Law degree. Not surprisingly， she wants to work in human rights.

Find your passion

In talking with Taylor about her life's work， one can see that this is something she needs to do. "Everyone has to find something that they are passionate about， whether it is being a fantastic father， or working for the environment or loving your job as a lawyer，" says Taylor. "My passion is helping people， especially homeless people. It's just something my heart made me do and it's like breathing—it doesn't stop. Some people spend their lives trying to find that passion but I got lucky and I found it when I was five."

That passion is never more obvious than when Taylor discusses the people she has met in her coast-to-coast travels.

She talks about watching Brian， a homeless man at a Winnipeg shelter， give his new vest—that he had just received for Christmas—to another man who was extremely upset. "He said 'You need this more than me，'" says Taylor. "Despite how hard life has been on him， he was so generous and kind. How can you not be inspired by that？"

Then there was the time Taylor took a tour of a Toronto children's shelter and ended up hanging out with the kids for much of the day. "I was getting ready to leave and this one tiny girl who had been there the whole time but hadn't said anything stepped out from behind the crowd and gave me a hug. She said 'Before today I thought nobody loved me. Now I know you do'."

And then there is Rick. "Rick is a former residential school13） student who was homeless for about 25 years. He now has a place to stay and is retired from a job， so he's doing well，" she says. "He is so wise and special and kind and loving. When things get especially tough or busy， I call him and we talk and it reminds me how much work like this matters. I'm lucky to have such an amazing friend."

Hannah Taylor says it doesn't take much to help a homeless person. "Give them some change， buy them a coffee， just say 'Hello. How are you？' Even the smallest gestures acknowledge that they are people like us."

開始行动

一天晚上，妈妈在睡前帮她掖被子时，那时刚满六岁的泰勒又问了妈妈一个关于无家可归者的问题。“妈妈跟我说，‘你知道吗，汉娜，也许你为他们做点什么，你的心就会好受一点。”

正是这句话让汉娜行动起来，而且这场行动在13年之后依然没有要停止的迹象。

泰勒给自己一年级的同班同学做了一场关于无家可归者的报告，还为当地一家收容所组织了一场募捐活动，募集食物、咖啡和衣服。让她高兴的是，同学们对这件事的热情和自己不相上下。“我看到大家想要伸出援手，他们只是不知道要如何开始，”泰勒说，“就我的一年级同学们而言，当他们得到机会去帮助别人时，他们每个人都立刻想出了很棒的主意。”

不过对于泰勒而言，这可不是一个做一次就完事儿的项目。她被自己第一步所取得的成功所激励，继续致力于此，不仅为自己如此关心的这项事业筹集善款，还在提高公众对这项事业的认识。在接下来的几年里，她与商业领袖、政界人士会面，飞往加拿大各地参加演讲，并用一个个印有瓢虫（她的幸运符）的罐子来募集资金。

小钱罐变成了基金会

2004年，泰勒筹集了足够的资金来创办瓢虫基金会。这是一个非营利性慈善基金会，为加拿大其他慈善组织提供支持，帮助它们为无家可归者提供食物、住所和帮助。那一年，她八岁。如今，泰勒是瓢虫基金会的首席执行官，该基金会迄今为止已经为几十家最有影响的施粥所、紧急避难所、食物银行和青少年收容所筹集了超过400万美元的资金。

也是在2004年，泰勒创办了她的第二个登记在案的慈善项目——瓢虫基金会教育项目，这是针对从幼儿园到12年级学生的一个课堂资源，旨在教孩子们如何让自己的社区、国家和整个世界有所改变。“当我在学校里演讲时，我发现孩子们会有那种灵光闪现的时刻——他们会说‘嘿，如果她可以做到，我也可以。我们没有给予孩子们足够的信任，但他们的确是在意的，也因而受到鼓舞想要帮助改变。他们只是需要工具而已。”

而且泰勒明白，为了能使情况有所改观，一个人能拥有的最好的工具就是知识。“教育——不管是正式的还是经验得来的——是关键，”她说，“这也是为什么我们在瓢虫基金会所做的这么多工作都是为了提高公众的认识。在人们可以行动之前，他们需要了解。”这让泰勒去麦吉尔大学求学深造变得顺理成章。

自从去年9月开始在麦吉尔大学学习之后，泰勒不得不稍稍减少了自己在瓢虫基金会的活动，以便专注于自己的学业，不过她还是设法通过Skype完成了几场演讲。在选择了国际发展、国家与治理作为专业之后，她的计划是拿到法学学位。她想要从事人权方面的工作，这不足为奇。

找到你热爱的事情

在与泰勒聊她终生的事业时，你可以看得出来这是她需要去做的事情。“每个人都得找到自己热爱的事情，不管是做一个了不起的老爸，还是致力于环保，抑或是热爱你的律师工作，”泰勒说，“我热爱帮助别人，特别是无家可归的人。这只是我的心让我去做的事情，它就像呼吸一样不会停止。有的人穷尽一生試图找到自己热爱的事情，但是我很幸运在五岁时就找到了它。”

每当泰勒谈起自己在加拿大东西海岸的旅行中所遇到的人时，这种热爱表露得最为明显。

她谈到自己看到温尼伯收容所的一个无家可归者布赖恩把他的新马甲（这是他刚刚收到的圣诞节礼物）送给了另一个人，那个人十分沮丧。“他说，‘你比我更需要这件马甲，”泰勒说，“尽管他的生活一直如此艰难，他仍然这么慷慨、友善。你怎能不被这样的事情所鼓舞呢？”

还有一次，泰勒去多伦多的一家儿童收容所参观，结果一天的大部分时间都在跟那里的孩子们一起玩儿。“我当时已经准备要走了，结果一个一直都在那儿但却一句话都没说过的小女孩从人群后面走上前来，给了我一个拥抱。她说，‘在今天之前，我觉得没有人爱我。现在我知道你是爱我的。”

还有里克。“里克以前是一所寄宿学校的学生，大概有25年都无家可归。现在，他有个地方住，还刚刚退休，所以他过得还不错，”她说，“他非常睿智、友善、有爱且与众不同。当工作变得太棘手或太多时，我就会给他打电话聊一聊，这样的对话提醒我这种工作有多么重要。我很幸运拥有一位这么棒的朋友。”

汉娜·泰勒说帮助一个无家可归的人并不需要做太多。“给他们一点零钱，给他们买杯咖啡，或者只是跟他们说一句‘嗨，你好吗？即使是最微不足道的表示也是在承认他们是像我们一样的人。”

9. soup kitchen： （救济穷人的）施粥所，施食处

10. food bank： （向穷人或无家可归者提供食品的）食物银行，主要为经济有困难人士提供暂时的膳食支援，鼓励他们自力更生。一批热心于慈善事业的志愿者自发组织起来，把超市中那些即将过期但又卖不出去的食品收集起来，免费发放给那些忍饥挨饿的街头穷人。此外，连锁快餐店、酒店及食品供应商也会捐赠熟食、干粮及餐券等。

11. light bulb moment： 灵感的突然闪现；灵光一现

12. Skype： 一款即时通讯软件，具备通话、文字聊天、视频聊天、传输文件、多人语音会议等功能。

13. residential school： 寄宿制学校