Voices of Our City Choir gets special mention in The New York Times

(photo by Abdul Kircher for The New York Times)

Voices of Our City Choir has a special mention in The New York Times' series, Headway, which explores the world's challenges, seeking promising solutions and progress. Last month, photographer Adbul Kircher attended Voices’ rehearsal with his camera in tow, to capture that “something essential” held between us all, no matter our backstories.

Voices’ Choir Member, Matt K, shares his experience with homelessness and with Voices’ Choir in the New York Times’ article “What Don’t You Know About Homelessness?”.

“The best way I can describe [Voices of Our City Choir] is it’s like an instant family,” says Choir Member Matt K in his New York Times interview. He first heard the Choir perform at a local library.

When Matt attended Choir, he encountered what “was probably as important as getting food: just human contact.” 17 years ago, Matt lost his job and began living in his van. Matt says, “When you know there’s kindness in the world, it helps.” We are honored The New York Times mentions Voices of Our City Choir among progressive, promising communities for the global challenge of homelessness.

Stories like this remind us that your support allows us to offer essentials—showers, clean socks, community meals—yet it is the full experience within this welcoming space that draws in new faces, new voices, every week. Donations to Voices of Our City Choir support a space for our unsheltered neighbors to encounter kindness, friendship, and nourishment beyond the body — a place “invisible” people are welcomed by name. Your kindness and generosity move an unsheltered neighbor off the streets and into community

VOICES OF OUR CITY CHOIR SELECTED!

Grantees with Mark Stuart and Steve Klosterman. Voices of Our City Choir’s CEO Steph Johnson, far right. Photo from the San Diego Foundation.

This year, Voices of Our City Choir was chosen among nine other nonprofits as the first recipients of Jay Kahn’s generous $100M legacy to San Diego. Khan left the third-largest unrestricted gift to a U.S. community foundation. Voices will receive the initial $50,000 in February—a transformative gift for the small-but-mighty nonprofit. With the San Diego Foundation’s $150,000 funding over the next three years, Voices will welcome new members to its creative community for adults experiencing homelessness.

Voices of Our City Choir’s music & arts program helps move members from living unhoused towards shelter and self-sufficiency. Since relocating to Bankers Hill last year, the nonprofit brings its outreach, life skills programming, meals, and music rehearsals to a neighborhood with limited resources for adults living unhoused.

“Seven years ago, we began this work out of a shared love of music and the human connection it offers us all,” says Steph Johnson, Voices’ CEO and Creative Director. “It is especially meaningful that the San Diego Foundation chose to honor Jay Khan’s legacy first through his love of music. This initial $50,000 gift allows Voices of Our City Choir to bring healing, song, and much-needed services to unsheltered San Diegans at a pivotal moment of need.”

Voices of Our City Choir, 2020 Golden-Buzzer Winner on NBC’s America’s Got Talent,

continues to receive national recognition for its unique model addressing the homeless epidemic. Last Spring, the nonprofit was selected as an Investee by San Diego Social Venture Partners. The award included a gift of $25,000 plus two years of strategic consulting to support Voices in tackling one of San Diego’s most pressing challenges. According to the Community Performance Dashboard, published in April 2021 by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, 23% of all unhoused San Diego clients who are placed in shelters become homeless again within 2 years.

“Voices is doing something different, and donors are responding to the Choir’s innovation and

inspiring performances” says Lindsey Seegers, Voices’ Deputy Executive Director. “This

extraordinary $150,000 gift builds on the generosity and trust of our supporter community.

Voices’ donors hear their sound investment in the songs and stories of our choir members. And that sound is full of soul, funk, and joy.”

Amplified: Sounds of the Community

On October 10th, the Choir did not sing the Golden Buzzer-winning song from America‘s Got Talent. We didn’t sing even one of our funky, classic hits. We premiered an original show—developed in partnership with our unsheltered + newly housed Choir Members + the team from La Jolla Playhouse. We premiered original songs by our Choir Members: their stories, their notes, their experiences.

October 10 is World Homeless Day. This year, it also falls on the same day as Indigenous Peoples Day. Indigenous people are 8 times more likely to be homeless than non-Indigenous people. Today holds an opportunity to honor no-longer-silenced voices. Unique about Voices Of Our City Choir is that this nonprofit was imagined alongside our unsheltered, unheard neighbors. Every week, every song: we seek the voices, ideas, and insights of our Members. As a result, yesterday’s concert proved tremendous beyond our imagining.

Did you know that YOU can amplify voices, YOU can amplify stories silenced too long. We can do this by adding new voices to the Choir. This October, Voices is launching outreach at our new location: bringing mobile showers, essentials, and authentic relationships to folks living outdoors with a personal invitation out of the park, off of the sidewalk, into safe, creative community. We are raising $30,000 this month to reach our unhoused brothers and sisters and grow your choir. Every gift counts. If you would like to make a donation, click the donate button at the top of the screen.

Your support welcomes our City’s next Choir Member.

Thank you for cheering on our Members!