Emergency shelters brimming with homeless people in California's capital Sacramento are quietly turning away more than 200 women and children a night in a sign of the deteriorating U.S. economy.

加州首府沙加緬度的臨時收容所擠滿無家遊民，平均一個晚上要悄悄拒收200多名婦女和兒童，這也是美國經濟惡化所浮現的跡象之一。

The displaced individuals on waiting lists at St. John's Shelter and other facilities often turn instead to relatives or friends for temporary living quarters, perhaps moving into a spare room, garage or trailer. The less fortunate might sleep in their cars or a vacant storage unit.

這些無處棲身的遊民，在苦等聖若望收容所和其他機構安置之際，轉向親朋好友尋找暫時安身的處所，也許搬進一個空出來的房間、車庫或拖車屋上。命運更慘的可能睡在車上，或一個空出來的儲藏室。

They are the hidden homeless. And their ranks appear to be growing as rising joblessness and mortgage foreclosures take their toll in Sacramento and other U.S. cities, experts say.

專家指出，他們原是隱性無家遊民，但隨著失業率攀升和房屋被銀行查封法拍，重創沙加緬度等美國城市的經濟後，他們人數似乎與日俱增。

U.S. President Barack Obama recognized the trend recently, saying, "the homeless problem was bad even when the economy was good," and he vowed to bring greater government resources to bear to deal with it. "It is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours," he said.

美國總統歐巴馬最近表示，他已經注意到這種趨勢，他並稱，「即便在經濟好的時候，遊民問題也很糟，」並誓言投入更多政府資源來處理這個問題。「在一個像美國這麼富裕的國家，不容兒童和家庭流離失所，」他說。

A "tent city" of up to 200 homeless in Sacramento was thrust into the media spotlight in February this year as a symbol of the battered U.S. economy. California authorities said later they would shut down the illegal settlement and find other shelter for its residents, most of them chronically homeless.

今年二月，沙加緬度一個足以收容200個遊民的「帳篷市」成為媒體焦點，這也是美國飽受打擊的經濟的象徵之一。加州主管當局稍後表示，將關閉這個非法聚居地，並為這些帳篷族找其他收容所，但這些人大半是長期居無定所的遊民。

Homeless advocates say they expect such encampments, which already exist around the country, to spread as the housing crisis worsens and shelters fill up. "I think there's a slight trickle of people who've been at risk of homelessness who are winding up in tent cities or knocking on shelter doors," said Michael Stoops, director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington. "I expect a tremendous increase in homelessness over the next couple of years."

為遊民爭取權益的人士表示，他們早已預見這種帳篷城的出現，事實上全美各地均可見這種帳篷聚落，隨著房貸危機惡化及收容所塞爆而不斷蔓延。「我想有一小撮可能淪為遊民的人，最後都落腳於帳篷城或去敲收容所的門，」華盛頓「全美遊民聯盟」主任史多普斯說。「我預期未來幾年無家可歸的遊民會暴增。」

Stoops, who has worked with the homeless for 35 years, said the newly dispossessed often retain some income and seek initially to downsize or find cheaper accommodations.

史多普斯已經為遊民奔走35年，他表示，最近才無家可歸的新遊民，多半還有點收入，一開始可能先找較小的房子，或較便宜的住所。

"Their worst nightmare would be winding up on the streets, in a tent city or a shelter," he said. "That's the last stage. They will do everything they can before that happens to them."

「他們最糟的惡夢是流落街頭或到帳篷城及收容所棲身，」他說。「那已經是走投無路了，在此之前，他們會竭盡所能自救。」

Maria Romero, 52, who held a series of low-paying jobs over the years before steady work became hard to find, said she lived out of her automobile for a year before reluctantly moving to St. John's Shelter in January. "I'd rather be by myself. My car was my own space," she said, adding she would never consider living in a tent city. "It wouldn't be safe, especially for a single female," said Romero.

52歲的瑪利亞．羅梅洛近年來幹了不少低薪工作，直到穩定的工作很難找到為止，她坦承，在她車上住了一年，今年一月才不情不願搬入聖若望收容所。「我寧可靠自己，我的車子起碼是屬於我的空間，」她說，並稱她永遠不可能考慮住進帳篷城。「那很不安全，單身女性尤其危險，」羅梅洛說。

As of 2007, the report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness said, 42 percent of homeless people in the United States, and 70 percent of those in California, slept on the streets, in cars, tents or abandoned buildings. The "Skid Row" area of Los Angeles is thought to have the nation's highest concentration of homeless, with more than 5,000 counted in that 50-block area in 2007. Experts say it typically takes six to eight months to go from losing one's home to turning up at a shelter doorstep.

福利團體「全美終止無家遊民聯盟」的報告指出，到2007年，美國42%無家遊民和加州70%遊民睡在街上、車上、帳篷或閒置的空屋中。一般認為，洛杉磯「貧民區」附近是全美遊民最密集的地區，2007年，光是那50條街廓就有5,000多人無家可歸。專家指出，從失去棲身之所到流落收容所中，通常要花6至8個月。

Loaves & Fishes, a Sacramento charity that supports the homeless, now provides a free lunch to about 650 people a day, up about 10 percent from a year ago, but private donations to the organization have been flat. "We are struggling to keep our doors open," director Joan Burke said.

沙加緬度支持遊民的慈善機構「麵包和魚」現在每天免費約供應650人一餐，比一年前增加了一成，但私人提供該機構的捐款卻未跟著增加。負責人伯克說：「我們努力維持，希望不致關門。」

Nearby St. John's Shelter, which caters to women and children, has been running at or near capacity for months -- filling roughly 100 beds a night -- with a waiting list well over twice that long, case manager Kellie Dockendorf said. This is up from the daily average of 80 women and children turned away in 2008. And getting in can take up to 45 days.

附近的聖若望收容所主要以婦孺為主，數月來一直人滿為患或幾乎客滿，每個晚上約提供100張床，但據專案經理凱莉．多肯杜夫表示，有200人等著住進來，這比去年平均每天80名婦孺排隊要多。現在得等45天才能入住。

The mix of clientele is changing too, she said. "We're getting a lot more working people. We're getting more people with education. We're getting a lot more people who are working part-time or not getting enough hours to pay their bills," she said.

她表示，住客的組合也在改變中。「我們收容很多上班族，其中不乏受過教育者，還有很多做半時工作，或工時不足以支付帳單，」她說。

Photo shows a homeless family getting a photo portrait taken during a Wow Jam community event in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles on June 24, 2009. The event tries to help the displaced and disadvantaged residents of the area get their lives back in order.

圖中（法新社）這個遊民家庭，今年6月24日於洛杉磯貧民區舉行的Wow Jam社區活動中，一家三口在相機前合影，這項活動主要試圖幫助無住所的弱勢族群重回生活正軌。