奇速英语

歌手兼作曲家Jewel创立基金会帮助困境中的青少年

Singer and songwriter Jewel experienced how terrible the poverty cycle can be. Before becoming a Grammy-nominated artist, Jewel grew up so poor in Alaska that she had nowhere to live and even shoplifted. "I was a homeless kid who was stealing," Jewel said this week at the SALT Conference in Las Vegas. "I didn't have $40 to buy a dress, much less to get any housing."
       Speaking to a crowd of financial types who pay thousands of dollars to attend the event, Jewel spoke about the Inspiring Children Foundation, which helps at-risk youth. She shared her life story to explain how demeaning(失去尊严的) it was to be homeless. Jewel recalled how people would stay away from her. "People treated me like I was contagious(传染的). They thought the homelessness might spread to them," she said.
       In between performing songs for the crowd, Jewel said being homeless made her realize "what it was like to be an animal" because she had to focus entirely on food and shelter. Like other homeless people, Jewel was the product of a very difficult home life. She said her dad suffered from PTSD and was an alcoholic who became abusive(虐待的). "I never drank and never did drugs in my whole life. The poverty cycle was just really hard to break," said Jewel, whose struggles also appeared in her song Never Broken.
       Eventually, Jewel was discovered at 19 years old "by accident" when she was singing in bars and coffee shops. Jewel ended up selling 30 million albums, getting nominated for four Grammys and landing on the cover of Time.
       Back when her life was in rags, Jewel said she would have killed for the opportunities offered by the foundation to help at-risk youth. Inspiring Children, Jewel's Never Broken nonprofit program， has provided mentoring, working skill development and other tools to help young people find success.