Voices of our City appoints new Executive Director, Lindsey Seegers

SAN DIEGO | FEBRUARY, 2024

Voices of Our City Choir, America’s Got Talent semi-finalist, and a leading arts nonprofit serving individuals impacted by homelessness, is pleased to announce a significant addition to its executive team. Lindsey Seegers has been appointed as the new Executive Director and will play a pivotal role in driving Voices’ strategic initiatives and fostering continued growth.

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(photo: Voices' Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director Steph Johnson and newly appointed Executive Director, Lindsey Seegers. )

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With a proven track record of success in nonprofits serving communities experiencing housing and food insecurity, Ms. Seegers brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Voices in this new role. Her nonprofit experience spans community-based and nationally affiliated organizations—including Feeding San Diego and Kitchens for Good. Over the past 15 years, she has applied her experience to help nonprofits engage both staff and participants in root-cause solutions to poverty, integrate trauma-informed approaches to human services, leverage national partnerships, and advance their missions through advocacy. For the past two years, Lindsey has served as Voices’ inaugural Deputy Executive Director, helping to establish Voices’ partnership with St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, develop the organization’s first strategic plan, and grow Voices’ revenue to over $1M.

“We are thrilled to appoint Lindsey to this role,” said Voices’ Co-Founder, CEO and Creative Director Steph Johnson. “Lindsey’s member-centered approach, strategic mindset, and passion for excellence are in harmony with Voices’ values and mission. I am confident that her leadership will propel Voices to new heights and reinforce our position as an industry leader in innovative approaches to homelessness.”

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In her new role, Ms. Seegers will be responsible for Voices’ fund development, financial management, as well as prioritizing DEI & Belonging work to maximize mission attainment. Ms. Seegers’ ability to drive operational excellence will be instrumental in driving Voices towards continued success and expansion.

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Ms. Seegers expressed enthusiasm about joining Voices of Our City. “I am honored to serve Voices in this new capacity, and I look forward to contributing to our nonprofit’s growth and success,” she stated. “I am confident that together, we will achieve remarkable milestones and create new opportunities for San Diegans impacted by homelessness.”

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Ms. Seegers holds a Social Work degree from Christopher Newport University, and a Graduate Certificate in Nutrition from George Mason University’s School of Global Public Health. 

About Voices of Our City. Voices of Our City, based in San Diego, California, amplifies the voices of people impacted by homelessness through music and the arts. Founded in 2017, the nonprofit provides a safe, creative community for its 100+ members to develop renewed hope, personal empowerment, and the life skills to achieve their goals. In 2020, Voices of Our City Choir gained national attention after winning the Golden Buzzer on NBC's America's Got Talent with their original song, "Sounds of the Sidewalk". The Choir has performed publicly over 100 times. Recognized for its advocacy and changing perceptions around homelessness, the National Conflict Resolution Center awarded Voices the San Diego Peacemakers Award in 2022. The Choir's impactful work is featured in the award-winning 2018 documentary "The Homeless Chorus Speaks", which aired on PBS. Voices of Our City continues to grow, offering opportunities for unhoused individuals to rebuild their lives with dignity. For more information, visit www.voicesofourcity.org.  

Voices Joins The Padres Foundation to Celebrate Grand Opening of Timmy’s Place

New Café Employs Youth Experiencing Homelessness

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(photo: Choir members share a moment with Padres' mascot Swinging Friar at Timmy's Place, May 2nd).

Voices of Our City Choir performed today at the grand opening of Timmy’s Place: a pizzeria and print shop named for Rolf and Mary Benirschke’s son who experienced homelessness. The shop employs youth, ages 18-24, experiencing homelessness. It is operated by the Union of Pan Asian Communities (UPAC), in partnership Urban Street Angels, and supported by the Rolf Benirschke Legacy Foundation and the Lucky Duck Foundation.

Twenty of Voices’ Choir Members performed “Being You”, an original song written by the Choir, and Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing”. San Diego Padres’ mascot, The Swinging Friar, rallied the crowd to clap along through the finale. 

“We are so honored that our Choir was invited to perform in today’s celebration to open Timmy’s Café. It is inspiring to share a space with the Padres Foundation, UPAC, Urban Street Angels, and our partners The Lucky Ducky Foundation and The Legacy Foundation. Today’s robust turnout reminds us that our City’s residents share a commitment to creative, dignified opportunities people of all ages impacted by homelessness,” said Lindsey Seegers, Deputy Executive Director of Voices of Our City Choir.

Last year, the National Conflict Resolution Center Peacemakers Award honored Voices of Our City Choir alongside philanthropists Rolf and Mary Benirschke, a San Diego couple who have dedicated their lives to serving others, drawing strength from personal challenges. The NCRC award introduced the Benirschkes and Voices of Our City Choir, now friends and partners in a shared cause. Rolf and Mary’s daughter, a talented soprano, is also a proud Choir Member of Voices.   

The Benirschke’s son, Timmy, found a caring community outside San Diego in his journey towards sobriety and stability. Voices’ caring community here in San Diego resonated with the Benirschkes, as the nonprofit offers a place for healing and self-expression on the journey out of homelessness. 

“Today reminded us of the Choir's earliest days: community gathering around food and friendship. We look forward to a partnership that brings unhoused artists—be they culinary, music, or printmakers—together at Timmy’s Place,” said Seegers. 

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Timmy’s Place is a new social enterprise with the mission to train and employ homeless youth and provide critical life skills and work experience to help the youth be self-sufficient and never return to the streets. They aim to employ more than 50 youth per year, as well as connect them to long-tern employment through the San Diego Restaurant Association.

About Voices of Our City Choir. The internationally recognized Voices of Our City Choir amplifies voices and encourages growth through music and arts. Since 2017, Voices has impacted the lives of over 275 unsheltered people, connected 29 individuals to employment, facilitated more than 90 moves into safe shelter, and reached millions more in over 100 public performances. Voices’ national recognition for our unique human services model addressing the homeless epidemic includes: the PBS documentary “The Homeless Chorus Speaks”, 2020 America’s Got Talent's Golden Buzzer Winner for Original Song “Sounds of the Sidewalk”, as well as excellence awards from Mayor Todd Gloria, the San Diego Psychological Association, and the National Conflict Resolution Center’s 2022 Peacemaker Award. For more information, go to www.voicesofourcity.org  

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Lindsey Seegers at 858-240-9940 or Lindsey@voicesofourcity.org

Voices of Our City Choir selected among notable music nonprofits to receive historic gift 

With the San Diego Foundation’s $150,000 funding over the next three years, Voices welcomes new members to its creative community for adults experiencing homelessness

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

SAN DIEGO, CA : 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. This February, Voices will receive the initial $50,000—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.”  

Choir rehearsals at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral are open to the public on Mondays at 11am.

About Voices of Our City Choir. The internationally recognized Voices of Our City Choir amplifies voices and encourages growth through music and arts. Since 2017, Voices has impacted the lives of over 275 unsheltered people, connected 29 individuals to employment, facilitated more than 90 moves into safe shelter, and reached millions more in over 100 public performances. Voices’ national recognition for our unique human services model addressing the homeless epidemic includes: the PBS documentary “The Homeless Chorus Speaks”, 2020 America’s Got Talent's Golden Buzzer Winner for Original Song “Sounds of the Sidewalk”, as well as excellence awards from Mayor Todd Gloria, the San Diego Psychological Association, and the National Conflict Resolution Center’s 2022 Peacemaker Award. For more information, go to www.voicesofourcity.org  

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Lindsey Seegers at 858-240-9940 or Lindsey@voicesofourcity.org

San Diego nonprofits band together to show how music can address homelessness

SAN DIEGO, CA: This weekend, San Diego’s own America’s Got Talent semi-finalist, Voices of Our City Choir, will host a unique performance for World Homeless Day at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Bankers Hill. AMPLIFIED: SOUNDS OF THE COMMUNITY is Voices’ first artistic collaboration with Monarch School, San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus, and—Voices’ newest creative partner—La Jolla Playhouse. The free community event will be held on Sunday, October 9, 2022, from 3-6pm at 2728 Sixth Avenue, with a schedule of the day’s activities available on voicesofourcity.org. 

“Music invites a more accessible conversation than the homelessness crisis. At Voices of Our City Choir, we see resilience and self-sustainability emerge when we integrate music and arts into social services. This World Homeless Day, we have an opportunity—alongside these incredible artistic partners—to show the good work being done here in San Diego to support our unsheltered neighbors move out of homelessness. This good work can be replicated in other regions,” said Steph Johnson, CEO, Co-Founder, and Creative Director of Voices of Our City Choir.  

Voices of Our City Choir, a nonprofit with an award-winning rhythm-and-blues-soul-funk band offers a unique approach to building trust-based relationships through music. The nonprofit offers a safe, creative community for San Diego’s unsheltered as they navigate a life off the streets. This collaboration offers the public a rare chance to experience San Diego’s unsheltered—both youth and adults—as captivating musicians and artists.

"La Jolla Playhouse is thrilled to be partnering with Voices of Our City Choir on this extremely important event, and having a small part in being able to amplify some of the voices of members of our San Diego community who experience homelessness," says Director of Arts Engagement and In-House Casting, Jacole Kitchen, of La Jolla Playhouse.

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More about AMPLIFIED: SOUNDS OF THE COMMUNITY :

• 3-4pm | The Monarch School students (currently experiencing homelessness) will display and sell their art in an exhibition at The Queen’s Courtyard of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Bankers Hill. Art will be available for purchase, with funds direct to each student artist, many of whom will be present to share their artistic stories. There will also be a hands-on community art project facilitated by Monarch, friendly for all ages. 
   

• 4-4:30pm | Voices of Our City Choir’s award-winning jazz band (Rob Thorsen, Ed Kornhauser, Abram Majors, and Ricky Giordano) will perform Voices of Our City Choir’s original and popular hits.
   

• 4:30-5:30pm | Voices of Our City Choir Members—the Golden-Buzzer Winners of America’s Got Talent—will premiere new original songs and performance pieces composed by the Choir Members themselves. The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus will make a Guest Appearance to highlight the intersection of Coming Out and homelessness among the LGBTQIA+ community. Monarch School’s Dance Troupe will also perform in the show.
   

• 5:30-6pm | Director of Arts Engagement and In-House Casting, Jacole Kitchen, of La Jolla Playhouse, will moderate an audience Q & A with Monarch School students and Voices’ performers. This event will also premiere Voices’ collaboration with La Jolla Playhouse, whose playwrights work weekly with Choir Members to write and produce a show about the impact of Voices of Our City Choir.
   

• Councilmember Joe LaCava will be in attendance, in addition to other elected officials and nonprofit leaders. This show, AMPLIFIED, emerged from Voices’ longstanding Advocacy programming. The program, Voices of Dignity, positions Choir members as changemakers, voicing their lived experience to inform policies around issues of relevance to unsheltered San Diegans.
   

About Voices of Our City Choir: The internationally recognized Voices of Our City Choir amplifies voices and encourages growth through music and arts. Our nonprofit serves adults experiencing homelessness by providing support and opportunities for self-expression. Our members find renewed hope and self-sufficiency. Since 2017, Voices has impacted the lives of over 275 unsheltered people, connected 29 individuals to employment, facilitated more than 90 moves into safe shelter, and reached millions more in over 100 public performances. Voices’ national recognition for our unique human services model addressing the homeless epidemic includes: the PBS documentary “The Homeless Chorus Speaks”, 2020 America’s Got Talent's Golden Buzzer Winner for Original Song “Sounds of the Sidewalk”, as well as excellence awards from Mayor Todd Gloria, the San Diego Psychological Association, and the National Conflict Resolution Center’s 2022 Peacemaker Award.

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For more information, www.voicesofourcity.org

St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral Finds Soulmate in Voices Of Our City!

This April, the inspirational music ensemble Voices of Our City Choir will begin hosting its weekly rehearsals at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral. Since its founding in 2016, Voices of Our City—a community choir offering musical experiences for unhoused San Diegans—has become an internationally-recognized performance ensemble and nonprofit. Voices of Our City, the self-professed “rhythm-and-blues-soul-funk band” offers a unique approach to building trust-based relationships through music. The Voices’ wraparound services support its choir members in moving from the streets to safe housing.  

“When we started the choir, I witnessed the extraordinary potential of music to help people reconnect with their sense of self. The choir is the frontlines of inclusivity, equality, and compassion. Since the pandemic, it’s clearer than ever that healing happens in community. We are overwhelmingly grateful that St. Paul’s understands the power of music for hope and healing,” said Steph Johnson, CEO and Creative Director.  

This partnership brings more arts and culture to the Banker’s Hill community. St. Paul’s maintains a robust history of choral performance and classical offerings, including a longstanding children’s choir program. St. Paul’s is also home to the largest indoor organ west of the Mississippi. Voices of Our City’s 75 public performances have ranged from local collaborations including the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and the San Diego Master Chorale, to national platforms such as PBS-aired documentary “The Homeless Chorus Speaks” and America’s Got Talent 2020 semi-finalists. This April, Voices of Our City Choir Members will be honored with the Local Peacemakers Award by the National Conflict Resolution Center. 

“Music is central to our life at St Paul’s, and we are honored to support this transformative program that builds dignity and self-worth for so many of our neighbors,” said The Very Rev. Penelope Bridges, Dean of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral. 

Choir rehearsals at St. Paul’s Cathedral will be open to the public beginning June 2022. Weekly rehearsals and performances are accompanied by an award-winning jazz band (Rob Thorsen, Ed Kornhauser, Abram Majors, and Ricky Giordano) with rotating musical guests including flautist Holly Hoffman and trumpeter Curtis Taylor.  

About Voices of Our City Choir. Voices of Our City Choir is a non-profit organization helping San Diego’s unsheltered neighbors reconnect with hope and possibility through the healing power of music. Founded in 2016, the choir serves as a safe space for mutual aid and community building, and gives a voice to San Diego's unsheltered community, both past, and present. Today, Voices of Our City Choir has more than 225 members and has helped over 86 of their members get off the street and into temporary or permanent housing. In addition to its programs and advocacy work, Voices of Our City Choir also serves as an inspirational musical ensemble. In 2020, the choir was introduced on a national scale when they made it to the semi-finals of NBC’s America’s Got Talent. The choir performs with an award-winning jazz group and performance-generated funds support meals, resources, and programming for choir members.

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For more information, go to www.voicesofourcity.org