“Voices of Our City Choir is committed to transforming the perception and experience of homelessness through the healing power of the arts.  We are building bridges connecting diverse communities in positive ways through musical performance, advocacy and education”.

 

In the Summer of 2016,  Steph Johnson and Nina Deering founded “Voices Of Our City”, a choir created for people experiencing homelessness in response to the housing crisis in San Diego. They felt called to create a safe and loving community centered around singing, joy and friendship. The choir provides the voiceless with a voice and showcases the powerful human potential and talent of each individual. Singing reduces stress and immediately sets the stage for peace and healing. The love and support that is present at the rehearsals and performances empowers choir members to regain hope and move forward in their lives.   

 

One of the greatest surprise achievements this year is that  22 of our unsheltered choir members were connected with their own housing. Thanks to our founders and an incredible group of volunteers and independently contracted case managers who worked together to assist our members with clothing, food, transportation, housing and more. We are finalizing the paperwork to become a non-profit and look forward to working with our board in 2018 to accomplish more outreach and fundraising to assist our unsheltered choir members. 

 

The Voices of Our City Choir has become an in-demand performance ensemble - performances include the San Diego Music Awards, The Music Box, various San Diego Libraries and churches, the Santa Monica Library,  Fox TV and appearances on KPBS, NPR, PBS Newshour, the SD Union Tribune and more. The story of the choir was recently filmed for an upcoming one hour documentary film by noted filmmaker, Susan Polis Schutz. "The Homeless Chorus Speaks" is set to be aired on PBS in 2018.