The Homeless Chorus Speak

-A lot of people that we meet in the choir, we don't know their background up-front.

We hold space for them in a loving way and create community and invite them in.

They can bring who they are.

Each person that I have helped is an individual and has their own issues.

I try to connect with them through my eyes and through my heart and my love of them.

I just see them with great potential.

Good to see you.

What's up?

Do you want some -- You want a water, any food or anything?

-Oh, no, I'm fine with the food.

Just had a nice breakfast.

-Right on.

What's your name again?

-Steve.

-How long have you been out here?

-Whew!

-You sleep right up here?

-Up at the next church.

-The next church?

-It's off the -- It's off the sidewalk.

That's why they let us stay there.

-Okay, here, Curtis.

I'm gonna give this to you.

-All right.

– Just to remind you this is tomorrow at 11: 00, right here, okay?

-I'll be there.

I'll do my best.

-Although I live just a few blocks from where hundreds of homeless people live, this problem occurs in every city and in every state.

It is a travesty.

Here, here.

This is -- We'll be there tomorrow.

Come kick it with us.

-Yeah, I will get there tomorrow.

-Please, do.

Cool.

-Yeah.

Every Friday.

Okay.

-Cool, man.

Take care.

-Thank you.

-Good to see you.

Good to see you.

-Steph and I are not social workers.

We're not therapists.

We are able to connect through time, through music.

Oh, never see you!

How are you?

-How's it going?

-I'm cool.

-How are you?

- Raise me up And don't let me fall They ask me to reveal The very thoughts they would conceal I said love Rescue me I said love Rescue me -Good job.

-Nice job.

-Yeah!

[ Cheers and applause ] -The choir has just been life-changing for me.

-It's been healing, and it's been the most family I've ever encountered in my life, because they love me like my family never did.

My mother died at the age of 23, my age, from a drug overdose.

She was never able to take care of me.

My grandmother ended up taking care of me till I was about 10.

We were homeless, like, on and off the streets.

And, so, she passed away when I was 10, and then it just -- my life... went downhill from there.

My dad was very, very abusive.

And he was a drug addict.

He would, like, beat us pretty bad, and I was abused in other ways that I'd rather not talk about.

I ended up in a program for foster youth.

Going through all the trauma I went through as a kid and losing a lot of my family members to drugs, it just caught up to me.

I had really bad PTSD, anxiety, and depression.

It all kind of, like, hit me me at once.

Eventually, my time ran out on that program, and my family didn't really care about me too much.

They don't even really care about themselves, so, I ended up alone.

I ended up on the streets for almost a year by myself.

-It is really hard to help folks that are experiencing homelessness, because it isn't just one issue that got them there.

There's a lot of poverty, illness, anxieties, depression, and then also some addiction.

Sometimes we'll be helping somebody, and they're starting to take care of themselves, and they're getting ahead, and I reach out to the family.

And the family's like, "We're so happy, but we just can't take that person in again."

You know, it's been a long history of maybe neediness or not being able to care for their own selves.

- Everywhere, but I won't let it be There will be no love Lying here for me -My father was an orthopedic surgeon, and my mother was a house-maker.

Unfortunately, both my mother and my father passed away.

My step-mother, step-brother, and step-sister, well, they do not help me.

I think that they feel that I've made some mistakes in life, and...

I don't think they understood what depression is really like.

I have a master's in business administration.

Started a production company producing large-scale dance parties.

And I was the victim of a hate crime.

I was assaulted after toasting in Christmas Eve with some of the powerful gay men and women in West Hollywood.

And I ended up on Christmas Eve with 15 stitches to my face, from here down through my lip.

That was really the beginning of a difficult time for me.

I cocooned in my house, and I self-medicated.

I used ecstasy, but it was methamphetamine that really affected me dramatically.

Initially, it gave me more energy and the ability to move forward, but, ultimately, you develop some paranoia, and your lack of sleep I think creates some short temperament, and you start to make some bad decisions.

-I did 27 years as a nurse.

And I moved down here a couple years ago with a boyfriend.

Things went kind of south.

And from there, I just kind of spiraled.

I lost my job.

I lost my condo.

Totaled my car, broke my face.

My daughter moved away.

I pretty much lost everything in like one week's time.

I was broken for a long time, and then...

I tried to pull myself out, but I really couldn't.

And just kind of fell apart, and that -- I was in a mental hospital a lot, and couldn't -- couldn't handle the broken heart, I guess, and kind of broke me.

-I've, like, washed about 15 dogs already for the day, okay?

So I'm absolutely shattered.

[ Laughs ] I work with dogs.

I can't work with humans at this point in my time, because humans have failed me.

Dogs don't fail me.

Dogs love me.

I love them.

Good girl.

I have two master's and bachelor's, you know, English Lit and English Language.

I wanted to be a teacher, but unfortunate things happened where my mind was broken for a while.

I was raped when I was 18 by 32 men who held me down and raped me.

I was a virgin.

I was traumatized for five years.

And, uh... [ Sighs ] Sorry.

I climbed back, because I knew that... there's something that God wants me to accomplish.

I have to be out here to help other people who are are in the same situation as myself, who have been through the same things that I've been through, and who, unfortunately, have not recovered from it.

-I first got involved in the homelessness outreach that I do probably about four years ago.

I did different outreach things and got to kind of know the community when I was doing distribution of my own, passing out some food or clothing with my friends.

They'd say, "Well, who are you with?"

kind of, like -- kind of sizing me up.

I said, "I'm just -- I'm a musician, I play guitar, and I sing."

And they said, "Oh, I do, too.

Let me pull out my instrument, and let me read my poem to you."

It was amazing how many people I met that had some form of art that they wanted to share and express.

I met Chris Nafis, who is the pastor.

He said, "Hey, if you want to do anything in our space, you can do it."

I said, "Really?"

So I immediately, like five minutes later, called Nina and said, "Do you want to start a choir with me?"

I knew that we could change the vibration downtown if we could just have a safe place to make music and to hang out and get to know people.

-I was on the streets for almost a year.

When I first became homeless, the safest place I could find on the street was just around the corner, in front of the public library.

And at the same time, they were starting a choir.

And so I set up the audio system.

The next thing I know, I'm showing up at the second rehearsal, where there were six people in total.

I had no intention of singing.

I hadn't sung since I was, like, you know, in grade school, an altar boy, you know?

[ Laughs ] - Sometimes in our lives We all have pain We all have sorrow But if we are wise We know that there's Always tomorrow Lean on me When you're not strong And I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on For it won't be long Till I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on Just call on me brother When you need a hand We all need somebody to lean on I just might have a problem -Something phenomenal, you know, to have people living in the street and bring them together and have them perform on stage and feel good about where they're at in their lives.

And that's what the choir's enabling a lot of the members to do, myself included.

I'm from New York.

When I came out the service, I became a security officer, but I got sick.

I've been starving before.

Been at both ends of the scale.

-I grew up poor.

My mother's disabled.

She's on Social Security.

She lives in low-income housing.

If it weren't for these programs, then I, myself, would have been homeless, you know?

If my grandmother hadn't taken me in, I also would have been homeless.

So I'm not that far removed from it.

-The choir means really everything to me right now.

I always stayed working, but... stuff happens.

[ Chuckles ] I had gotten into a situation in Mexico.

I was a set-up guy.

They would pin me while the other smuggler got through with the meth or whatever that they needed to deliver.

And so I did, and I got cuffed up.

Spent two years in prison.

When I got out, a lot of 'em wouldn't hire me back.

"Well, you know, you're a felon."

-Let's do some vocal warm-ups.

-The choir is really my meaning for being.

- Yo, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Yo, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Yo, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh -Take a breath.

Yo, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Let's try "Ya."

Ya, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah Ya, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah Ya, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah -Do you sing?

Do you play any music?

No?

Well, you don't have to be a singer.

You can just come.

-I came from a very loving family.

I came from a family where I didn't know what it was to want for anything.

I was book-smart, but I wasn't street-smart.

But I learned everybody is not kind and caring, that life is not a box of chocolates.

Life is like a box of nails sometime.

-Now you make a right here.

Go right in here.

-I had great jobs.

I was a registered nurse.

I was also a teacher's assistant.

And I worked with disabled kids.

And I lost my sight to glaucoma and trauma to my head.

And all of a sudden, I'm forced to live on an income of $900 a month.

And a one-bedroom would cost you that.

So how are you supposed to eat or pay electricity?

Everybody that's on the street, the first thing people think about people when they're homeless is you're a drug addict, or you're alcoholic, or you're a thief or something.

But there's people out on the street like me who can't get an apartment because your income is not enough.

The rent is too high.

And you have to have double your income, and how are you gonna have double your income on a fixed income?

So that's why a lot of people are out there.

There's people out there that work every day that I have met, and they're sleeping on the sidewalk and in tents because you can't afford a place.

-I'm originally from St. Louis, Missouri.

I came out here joining the Navy.

I never thought that I would be out here on the streets.

I was married for 22 years.

My wife and I had a business.

And when she passed away, the business failed.

I would work a little bit, and then my back would come into problems, and then I would have to quit.

And I became homeless after that.

Being that the sheriffs are right there, I try to have this done immediately, quickly, and succinctly so all they do when they roll past is they'll see my laying down underneath that.

I put my pillow here.

Then I put this down.

If you see and if you're over on that side, you really can't see me.

Put my gear inside.

And then I zip this up.

And I sit this here... like so.

And then I take this, because I don't want anyone to actually steal it.

And I put this on top like so.

And then I take out my garbage bag.

This is essential, because it actually helps blend in with the community.

I open it up.

I cover my entire gear.

If it's raining, it's essential that I keep things dry.

I don't have a lot.

But what I do have, I try to keep.

-During the day, I have my home away from homeless, I call it, which is down by the water.

And I just go down there and just relax and get away from this.

And then in the evening, come back, get -- retrieve my cart of belongings, put a tent up, and sleep there.

And then by 6: 00 in the morning, have it all up and packed up again and start all over.

[ Indistinct conversations ] -I was living with my family, staying with my mother and her fianc, and I left home primarily because I didn't have any independence.

And there was abuse going on at home -- alcoholism and violence.

And I left.

I went for the streets.

I had nowhere to go.

This is my spot.

I sleep here in the back.

There's enough space to where I can keep some seats, and I have a sleeping bag and my clothing and everything.

I work 60 hours a week, and I haven't been able to make a budget for housing or clothing.

My budget for food is food stamps.

So it's about $7.00 a day.

If I need to use the restroom any time of day or night, I just drive my car to any place that has a public restroom, and I shower at the gym.

But I eat in my car, and I sleep in my car.

When it's cold outside, it's terrible.

You can't sleep at night.

It's noisy, you know, and it's cold, and it's very uncomfortable.

I try to avoid places where a lot of people walk around, because it kind of scares me when I know there's people walking around, and I'm sleeping.

[ Laughter, indistinct conversations ] -Lived on the streets four months.

I've been attacked.

I've been stabbed.

This is an ice pick that went into the muscle, and this is a knife.

A guy tried to get in my tent.

As I grabbed him by his throat, he -- But that was before.

As I went up, he cut, you know?

But I still grabbed him by his throat and squeezed.

-The most traumatic experience was the first two or three nights.

It was a very, very difficult time for me, 'cause it was the least safe I had ever felt.

I was robbed twice.

At one point, I lost $300 cash and a laptop.

Like, you live on the street, you're at war with everybody.

You don't know if you can trust your neighbors or not.

Something happens, and next thing you know, they're robbing you.

You have people that are normal, everyday citizens that walk by, disparaging you.

-I had friends in the street, but that didn't last long, because everyone's kind of just...out for themselves.

And you have to survive.

This is, like, my best friend right here.

She's been here through the good and the bad times.

She was actually abused herself, so she's had it tough, as well.

So I feel like we can relate.

-Out on the street, there's, like... you know, prostitution and drugs and all that sort of thing.

And I got exposed to that, unfortunately.

There was a guy who approached me, saying he wanted to hire me to work, and he pressured me to do things I didn't want to do.

I was just put in a very dangerous situation.

As a woman, in general, it's, like, a whole different world, I mean, sexual trafficking, and it's really -- But I don't want to talk about that.

-One thing about being on the street is that if you don't have a mental illness or PTSD when you -- before you hit the street, you've definitely got it after just a week, 'cause it's so dangerous.

If you're homeless, you can't sit down.

You can't lay down.

You don't have a bathroom to use.

You don't have a shower to use.

And they're immediately ticketed or harassed.

-When the police come up, it's, you know, "Oh, my God.

Am I gonna get a ticket?

Am I gonna get harassed?

Is somebody gonna get taken to jail again?"

[ Police radio chatter ] -When I was on the streets, I would wake up at, like, the crack of dawn, 'cause I knew as soon as I woke up, the police would be there to, like, get me up and out, you know?

'Cause if you don't, you get a fine.

-I have been ticketed.

I was asked to give an address, and I wasn't being smart or facetious.

I told her I didn't know an address to give, because I didn't have one.

And I was threatened with being taken to jail.

[ Dogs barking ] -So, another pet is being taken from his owner down here on the streets of San Diego.

That's a pretty expensive proposition in order to get your pet back.

-Witnessing a person who has lost everything then lose their pet, their only friend and company in some of the darkest situations, is one of the most unbearable things to witness.

-When the police ripped open my tent, it brought some stuff back from my childhood, you know, like, people ripping my blanket off and doing things to me that -- Dreams started -- I have nightmares and -- I was crying because I didn't know what was gonna happen to all our belongings.

-I would love to show you a picture of my daughter, of my son, of my grandchildren, of my grandmother and my mother and my father.

But all of that was thrown away by the police when they did a raid one night.

And I said to them, "That is my life in there."

-Losing things that have sentimental value is a part of your past, part of your children's past, part of your family's past.

Those things take a toll on you.

You figure if you can hold onto your things, you know, you can start over again.

Once you lose those things, it's -- It leaves a hole in you.

-People really don't understand.

When they see someone laying on the street, it's because they've been out there so long.

And no one has really taken the time to help them, so they have just disappeared.

And all that's left is a shell, a human shell.

That's it.

Everything, every part of them has been gone.

It's wasted.

What is going on right now is an atrocity.

People who are homeless, who are living in poverty, they're trying to sweep them out into the sea, I believe, 'cause it's the only place you're gonna be able to sweep them.

-I put in for subsidized housing.

There's waiting lists from 2 years to 10 years.

The shelters have waiting lists.

And I went every day, and for three months, I was still on the street.

So you know they're overcrowded.

There's nowhere to put anybody.

-Well, you know, I'm familiar with the homeless population, because I've been an advocate in New York.

But I was really surprised at seeing women and children on the street.

-There are families out here.

There are young children out here that are homeless.

And that disturbs me more than my own kind, my own veterans that are here.

-We came from New York state.

We had an apartment that got foreclosed on, basically 'cause we were broke and had no money and nothing.

The job that I had, it was a painting job.

It just kind of went out of business.

She was getting disability.

-I have a chemical imbalance.

It gives me specific issues dealing with society.

And my doctor said that it's best that I just stay home.

-Her disability ended, and she's been fighting to get that back ever since.

-Without it, we're unable to sustain a residence for a period of time at all.

-We ended up getting a place through an organization.

At the time, Teela was pregnant.

The organization that set us up, they were supposed to pay the rent for six months.

They paid the rent for two months, and they lost their funding somehow.

And our son died.

-A month and four days after he was born.

-Yeah.

-We're 10 all together in one tent.

-What's it like having your family all together?

-You wake up living in a tent, 5:00 in the morning.

There's really nowhere to go.

So you're just kind of, like, up, wandering around.

When I have the kids with us, we'll probably ride the train until they kick us off or till the library opens.

They can sit down at the library, get on the computer or whatever schoolwork Teela will do with them.

Basically hang out in the library till it closes.

-[ Speaks indistinctly ] -Then you kind of wander around till it gets dark.

You set your tent up.

You go to bed.

You get up, do the same thing all over the next day.

-I wish I could live in an apartment or a house.

-Yes, have to be comfortable until we get one.

-Because I know sooner or later, we will get a place.

-Things really started to get rough on us.

That's where we had actual recognized that we were one paycheck away from... literally being homeless.

And I suffered a stroke.

I qualified for Social Security because I was disabled.

It ended for us right about six months into me getting my ability to walk again.

I do believe that the Lord speaks to us and gives us the faith and the confidence and the strength, that we can endure in the deepest of deepest of places.

And I'm not sure it's where I want to be -In life, everything changes.

Change is the one constant thing, so you have to direct your life for better change, because if you don't, it'll change anyway, and you want the changes to be good, not bad.

As a poet, for years, I've always been taking up...causes that I feel affect humanity as a whole.

I'm a published writer.

This is a poem that I wrote for the choir.

And it goes, "So many souls come together like a flock of brightly-lit stars up in the night sky, without any one of us asking why.

Yet none of us are willing to let the purpose we have found in each other pass by.

So with our voices together, we sing in the hopes of making this world for all of us a much better thing."

Yeah, right now, I'm traveling really light.

[ Laughs ] These days, you know?

These are all my belongings right here.

This is everything that I need or that's important to me right now, you know?

And to have a place to have this all together, it's, you know, more than a blessing for me.

Got blankets, sleeping bags, clothes.

And this is my bag that I carry with me all the time.

Unfortunately, I lost practically all my important papers and everything.

-The impact of music on depression, it's amazing.

We have so many people that have come to me in tears.

-Yeah.

-They say, "Before today...

I wanted to kill myself every moment.

And somehow, I feel different now."

-We've literally watched people leave choir, and they came in one way, and then they leave, and they've got a bounce to their step.

And they're still singing the song as they walk down the street.

It's amazing.

- I can see the truth All right, let's try both of those.

-The way we've been taught music is extraordinary.

Because the ongoing psychological damage -- Forget where I started from -- was unbelievable.

I was suicidal.

I tried to kill myself -- At that point, I think the third and fourth attempt occurred, you know, while I was on the street.

At least I'm dealing with it now.

-Hitting the bottom really motivated me to start moving, because I'm not ready to be in the grave.

So I'm not fighting just for myself, I'm fighting for everybody that's out there, homeless.

[ Guitar strumming ] -"A."

Find it.

-"A"?

-What's your favorite song you sing now?

-"Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Somewhere Over the Rainbow Skies are blue And the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me Somewhere over the rainbow.

-When I sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," you forget all of your problems.

You forget all the stress, all your hurt and pain and everything.

It's just like I'm in another world.

There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby If happy little bluebirds fly Beyond the rainbow Why, oh, why Can't I?

-All right.

-I am a depressive by nature.

My father was, too.

I am the worst diabetic anybody's ever seen.

Insulin and methamphetamine are absolutely contradictory.

It's roulette.

I am on crystal methamphetamine.

This run -- You know what a run is.

When somebody goes for multiple days, it's called a run.

I went, for about $20, I went from Thursday morning until Saturday night.

And I was still going at Sunday morning.

This place drives me crazy.

I need snow.

I need cold.

I need solid rock under my feet.

It sounds dumb, but my mind becomes unstable because of the earth here.

I -- -Because of what?

-The earth here.

I was never designed to stop moving at all.

-What do we, as a homeless population, do when we're left with nothing?

We began to dehumanize ourselves, and that's what people see.

They see the degradation.

They see the crime that's perpetrated on them, but they don't see us perpetrating crimes on ourselves.

-People that I'm around, that I sleep near, are addicts or alcoholics.

And a lot of them are on drugs because of their situation.

It's like, I've met a couple of people that wasn't drug addicts before they became homeless.

And they became drug addicts after being homeless.

-I was raised by a single mother.

My mom was a hot mess.

And we lived with people, and the people would do, like, torture things, like lock us in closets.

It just damages your soul.

Like, you have cracks in your soul that, like, don't heal.

And if you don't heal them, then you start seeking things.

I ate myself to 400 pounds.

So, it went from food to pills to alcohol plus pills.

I was escaping.

I was escaping the pain.

-With any drug, if you start to rely on the drug to feel better about your life because things aren't going well, that's where things go south.

-I don't use any drugs.

When I see drugs and alcohol, it's like Linus in Charlie Brown with his security blanket.

And a lot of people think it blocks out the hurt and pain, which they psych their self up to it, but it doesn't do anything but make your life worse.

-I'll see Brian when he's sober, and he's coherent and really sharp, really intelligent.

And then if I see him after using, it's a completely different Brian.

He was kind of unraveling a lot.

We were noticing it at choir.

Even for Brian, he wasn't able to hold it all together anymore.

He had gone a long time without his medication and having consistent insulin or a diet, a good diet.

And so, after, you know, so many days of not having his insulin, his blood sugar was, like, over 600.

And so he had to be in the hospital.

I spent some time with Brian in the hospital.

I told him, "No one can get you to not use drugs, you know?

I mean, that's something that you're gonna have to choose for yourself.

But, man, look at the support you have, you know?

Now you have a community."

-The choir to me is special because they're a voice for homeless people that doesn't have a voice.

And, like I said, there's a lot of homeless people out there that want to be heard, that can't be heard.

And through them, they're starting to gain some recognition.

Some people are starting to listen.

-Well, I appreciate it.

-We can't help people that don't want to help themselves, and we finally realized that.

And so now we have more time to help the people that need it.

-Yes, because I want to get out of here.

I want an apartment.

-I know.

-End of last year, I met a woman.

She's legally blind.

She somehow got hooked up with the choir.

Music to me is just -- I feel music.

I hear -- When I hear it, I don't just hear the sounds or whatever.

I actually listen to the lyrics.

-We come from such a place of love.

I mean, the words that we sing really mean something to us.

-The lyrics are all very meaningful, and Nina is very, very good about that.

-I spend a lot of time going through lyrics of the songs, making sure that they're songs that everyone can relate to.

- In the cold mirror of a glass I see my reflection pass -I see a movement that I'm a part of to care for your fellow man a little more, just a little more.

I've conquered my past The future's here at last I stand at the entrance to a new world I can see The ruins to the right of me Will soon have lost sight of me - I said, love Rescue me I said love Rescue me -Yeah!

Yeah!

Yeah.

[ Applause ] -[ Chuckles tearfully ] Sorry.

[ Chuckles ] Well, the work is hard, communicating or getting together with people on the street that are, like, so untrusting and so hurting and so -- so on their own, so frightened for their own life.

That woman that we just talked to, I mean, she was, like, literally bumping into me and stuff.

And she wasn't hearing anything I had to say.

You know, I couldn't talk to her at all.

And I understand.

There's folks that can't come to choir because that's not where their head's at.

Whatever you feel about homelessness, I mean, it's now a public safety issue.

People got knives.

People have guns.

There was one week during the summer when I was coming home from work, and every day I came home from work, from my gigs or whatever at night, there was more, like, yellow tape around an area where a person had been killed.

[ Inhales deeply ] And, you know, the news really only reports, like, a couple of those murders.

But, I mean, I had a friend that was living outside of the library in a tent, and she called me up, and she said, "Steph, this guy just got stabbed down on the steps, and he's bleeding to death, and nobody's coming, nothing."

And that's a fact.

I mean, there's people literally dying on the street that I've met, dying.

-In some way or another, homelessness will impact you, whether you notice it or not.

It can impact your neighborhood.

It can impact the lives of your children.

And it can impact us as a nation.

You know, we're all connected, you know?

And when we start feeling like we're not, that's when we're creating serious problems for ourselves, and not only for ourselves, for humanity as a whole.

You know, the dehumanizing of people... is one of the most dangerous things that we face, not only in this country but in the world.

-They don't care about homeless people.

They've taken away everything.

They try to take away our dignity, but I'm not gonna let anyone take my dignity from me.

-We're not lacking anything in this country.

The solution to homelessness is people getting access to resources.

-I think that support programs are incredibly important, but the most important thing to me would be psychological help -- getting therapeutic and psychiatric help.

You're not gonna solve homelessness problems, you're not gonna get people on to recovery until you put them under a roof.

-The federal government needs to create some housing for the people who don't have a whole lot of money so that they will have a place to stay.

-I think some of the most joyous moments for our choir members is when they get housing.

It's when they've totally gone through all the paperwork, all of the legwork to make it happen, and through all of our phone calls and all of our resources that they finally get a place.

- Tip in, tip out [ Bass guitar playing ] I got the pawn shop blues Hmm My money so funny I don't know what road to choose I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana.

I just wanted a change.

I didn't have a tent.

I just had a cardboard -- [ Laughs ] a bag, and some blankets, and my sleeping bag.

And it was good.

I'm positive all the time, because I'm not in a situation where I didn't give up mine and I'm depressed because everything went wrong.

I gave it up intentionally on my own.

So with that, I can go out and bite the dust and sleep on the concrete or do whatever I have to do to survive, because I gave up my stuff myself to go on a different adventure.

I connect with the musicians in the choir as soon as I got here.

Working with those people, top-notch musicians, is great, because I came here to work with great musicians and to do music.

And I'm doing that.

Good afternoon to y'all out there!

How y'all feeling?

[ Laughter ] Father, Father We don't need to escalate You see War is not the answer For only love can conquer hate You know we've got to find a way -What?

We got to find a way - To bring some lovin' -Whoo!

Today!

- Today -Here we go.

Come on.

- Picket lines -You know, the bond that I've created with the people is amazing, you know, because I have no one else.

People in the choir sort of gave me sort of, like, a family.

[ Vocalizing ] - Oh, whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah [ All vocalizing ] -[ Scatting ] Helping people is what I'm all about.

I'm all about making people feel good.

After all, I'm a musician.

So it just don't stop with the music, you know?

It's goes around -- all the way around.

You know, the only way you can feel good is to do right by people.

-For a bunch of homeless people to bring out such a profound amount of love and strength and -- that's resonating through music is the most incredible journey that anyone could ever be on.

- Amazing grace How sweet the sound?

Unbound, my voice Is free - I once was lost But now I'm found Was blind But now I see -I feel like that song has unified us.

I mean, Nina wrote words about us.

It's the story of our freedom in so many ways.

And one of the things that I think about are the people that we've lost over the year.

And I sing to them.

- Unbound My voice is free - Free -Judah Elijah, come this way!

Now, we're all gathered here to say... -Happy birthday.

-Happy 15th birthday, Judah.

-Thanks.

-Merry anniversary, Judah Elijah.

-Happy birthday.

-Hey, my name is Judah, and I am 15 years old.

-Today.

-What do you want to be when you grow older?

-A boxer.

-I'm very proud of my children.

-For kids that don't really have a home and has to worry about day-to-day things, they hold up pretty good in this situation.

The ultimate idea for me is to build a family business.

And most likely, it's going to be boxing.

So I'm very positive that I'll get it together, get in a place, get in a boxing gym, and get my children together with that.

-I know that we came here for a specific purpose, and the purpose is to build our family's success and become successful, period.

That's the only option we have.

I know tomorrow could be better than today.

This will end.

That's a definite.

-I'm kind of like Ray Charles.

I want to do things for myself.

I don't want a pity party.

I had myself in this situation.

It wasn't my fault.

But I'm a fighter, and I'm gonna get myself out of this situation with God and other people helping me.

But you got to help yourself before you can expect other people to help you.

So I'm not gonna just lay down and die.

I'm gonna fight every way I can to get back up to the status where I want to be.

-I'd like people to know and understand that homeless people are just regular people, but they're people.

And they're people that need help.

First of all, you got to just take the time to understand them.

Like, talk to them.

Get to know them.

Understand why they're in the situation that they are.

Because all homeless people aren't just negative people.

They're just caught up in a bad time and can't get off of it.

And some of them don't know how to get off the streets.

-I've been without a home for more than 18 months.

But that doesn't stop me from my education.

I am in school now.

I'm finishing up my master's degree in neuropsychology.

I get up at 0400, and I go to my schooling, and I come back.

I do my homework by flashlight.

-When you see a homeless person, remember that you see that chapter of their book.

But you're not seeing -- You're not seeing what -- the beginning of the book or anything.

And maybe, just maybe a smile or anything you can offer that person can make a difference in their day.

-Because a person is homeless doesn't mean they are bad.

They're good people.

-I see the pain in their eyes when I see them.

Every day, I -- you know, it's not gonna go away unless...something is done.

It's not gonna go away.

This is a major problem.

This is an infection.

It's a poison.

-We're human beings.

We have feelings, just like you.

[ Chuckles ] And... just be kind.

You never know.

That could be you that ends up on the streets.

-If you slept in a bed tonight or last night, and you were able to take a shower and use a bathroom, and you didn't even have to think about it, don't forget that that is not the case for everybody in this world and not even in our country.

-Singing does amazing things for the soul.

I haven't sung in a choir since 1980.

I've been singing by myself and singing alone.

You can run, but you cannot hide My whole family sings.

My mother sang, and my father sang.

They're all pitch-perfect.

But what you plan to do with your foolish pride When you're all by yourself, alone?

-Brian told me he wanted to get sober for his mother and for choir.

He's got a beautiful voice, and he sees it as an opportunity to sing.

- Shower the people you love with love Show them the way that you feel Things are gonna work out -He's actually wanting to get sober for the first time in at least six or seven years.

Him doing that James Taylor song is after him being sober for about five days.

- You love with love Show them the way that you feel - They say the rain must fall - Things are gonna be much better - Make it rain -I mean, it's really incredible.

Like, who would have thought?

Who would have thought you could start a choir... [ Chuckles tearfully ] ...and that through music, you could, like, really accomplish something like that?

- The way that you feel -We'd like to introduce Sergeant Frank Giaime from the Chula Vista Police Department.

[ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you.

It's wonderful to be here.

This is going to be an area in which the community can come here and meet with service providers, meet with police officers that are dedicated to this assignment as homeless outreach team officers, and get you connected to services and, hopefully, on the road to bigger and better things, okay?

-These are people who can't get out of the situation, but we can tell their story, and they tell their own story.

And then they move forward.

- And we fly just like birds of a feather I won't tell no lie - Oh - All of the people Around us, they say Can they be that close?

-Can they be that close?

- Just let me state for the record, yeah We're giving love in a family dose - We are family - Yeah, hey, ow This choir has helped me.

It's given me back a sense of priority and a sense of peace.

I got all my brothers with me We are family The Voices of Our City Choir are being heard.

- We are family - Yeah, hey, ow - I got all my sisters with me - Oh, yeah, oh, yeah I am a voice, and I will be heard.

- Just let me state for the record We're giving love in a family dose Oh, we are family I got all my sisters with me We are family Get up, everybody, and sing -Ladies and gentlemen, the Voices of Our City Choir.

[ Cheers and applause ] - Maybe that's why we are here To see when one of us is cold And maybe we're not too old To see that the time is now to be bold Forget about what you've been told There's a new religion of freedom It's called love Go to the root of your soul Let go of the space that you know And your spirit will soar endlessly Before we grow too attached to what we see Hang back a while And just breathe When you learn how to listen Everybody becomes loved Mm Maybe that's why we are here Maybe Maybe that's why Free bird, fly Free bird, fly Free bird, stay up high Free bird Fly