çwçwçwçwçwçwçwçwçwçwçwçwzw ♪♪ narrator: what does giving sound like when you sing for the poor, the lonely, the forgotten? this vocal ensemble known as rsvp uses their extraordinary talent to give back to sacramento. their music is the sound of giving. woman: oh my goodness. there are no words. woman: outstanding. we're just overwhelmed. woman: i cried. as always. julie adams: i always knew from the time i was 18 years old that if there was a purpose to my life it was about reconciliation. about building bridges between people rather than tearing ople apart. i toyed with reconciliation singers and voices of peace

reconciliation singers, voices of peace and realized if you shortened it it became "rsvp" which asks for a response. jennifer reason: "rsvp is all about bringing people together through the arts and giving back to the community, so we sing together to raise money for local charities, basically. jennifer: this particular charity is very special, probably one of the most special ones that we've done. so it's perfect timing. and it's called joshua's house and i'll tell you a little about it and maybe you can fill in. joshua's house is hospice for the homeless. it's the first one of it's kind in this city and basically the idea is terminally ill members of the homeless population will be given a bed and a room and medical care if necessary so they can pass comfortably. the program will be called "sing me to heaven" it's a really beautiful song. a beautiful theme. so thank you for doing this with me - so let actually

get started. (group singing) "sing me to heaven" (group singing) "sing me to heaven" jennifer: oh - that's so pretty!" noreen barnett: i love that we are using our gifts to bring goodness into this world. len jones: they seek out the charities that are very meaningful to the local community. andy paul: as a performer there are many groups out ere that people try to get together to have little groups but it's so rare to find one with a special enough mission that it keeps them together - but also gives th this great product which is not just a concert but benefits to other groups it's amazing! thomas warrick: knowing that joshua's house is going to provide a place for them to die in peace and not out

on the strts in the freezing cold is something that's you know beyond just good, it's fantastic. narrator: a respite for the homeless in sacramento, this is loaves and fishes. it's not surprising to find the founder of joshua's house here - marlene von friederichs-fitzwater. at home with the homeless, marlene has learned deeply who these people are. marlene: yeah, almost to a person - and we've now interviewed close to 250 homeless men and women and the main fr is to die alone on the street. so they alreadfeel that they're forgotten and ignored no body pays any attention or talk to them it just kinda magnifies that fear that they will end up dying alone. jennifer: one of my favorite parts of this job is meeting the people who work in these organizations. unsung heroes, all of them. and marlene might be the leader of that pack - she is

founding something - she's starting something brand new and there's not even a template really on the west coast. marlene - soell me a little about your health just generally. richard: health? it's deteriorating. i can read the writing on the wall. i don't need a doctor to tell me. i can walk about a hundred feet. sometimes a hundred yards. and then it's like climbing the last ten steps of mount everest and k-2 at the same time. marlene: what is your biggest fear about your condition? physically and being homeless? richard: fear? marlene: what are you most afraid of? where i'll be found dead. hannah ozanian: so every morning right here we have about 200 folks waiting outside these gates waiting to get in so they can get a hot cup of coffee so they can wake up after a long hard night sleeping outside.

but we do our best to provide dignity and honor each life of all of our guests because that's one of the tenets of loaves and fishes. jennifer: so this is a really beautiful wall. tell me about what it means. hannah: so this is our memorial wall right at the hub of friendship park. we do this so our guests are not forgotten. ♪(choir in background)♪ hannah: so many things in our daily lives are - just not important at the end of the day and when folks who have nothingho have nowhere to sleep who barely have enough food to survive can still keep - keep a positive perspective - it's really inspiring. so - i'm the fortunate one for being here to be able to

witness and develop these friendships. it's really an honor. ♪(choir in background)♪ jennifer: i served at loaves and fishes as a college student and it was a much smaller organization back then and walking there now, a decade or so later -it's - the need is so huge. and the number of people there is so much greater it was, really, quite shocking. jennifer: so the impact of seeing how many names on the wall of people who had passed, even there was just heart breaking. jennifer everyone th is marlene, founder of joshua's house - we're so honored to support all of your endeavors so thank you for being here. marlene: oh you bet thank you. so thank you all for being here and being interested in joshua's house - this will be the first hospice facility for terminally ill homeless people on the west coast and the seventh one in the country -uh -

so people are dying on the streets. we lose now in sacramento somewhere between two four people a wee which is horrific - it's just horrible. i had a grandson, my first grandson, who at the time was out 32 years old and when he was a teenager he became addicted to drugs and became homeless. but we stayed in close touch. so we would talk about the situation the people he saw in other cities where he would go to live on the street and people he'd meet who were dying and when he died - on the streets in omaha of an overdose - his name was joshua. he was an incredibly smart, loving, gentle wonderful young man and he was also a musician - so i'll just pass these around and you can take a look at them and meet joshua. he was 34 when he died.

he shared a lot of his feelings his pain and his suffering in words and in writing so this is from one of the letters. (reading) grandma i have been thinkg - this is hard for me -randma i have been thinking about why i"m here. what's my purpose in life? i think in the big picture the most important purpose for all of us it to love - to love ourselves, to love each other and to love the earth. to practice love in all our aspects of our lives everyday with everyone. that's our purpose. (to the group) and that was just his attitude he was a very loving and caring soul who just couldn't get past the addiction and that's what took him away. narrator: a century old warehouse near downtown is where marlene's vision for joshua's house is taking shape. marlene (to jennifer) this is the space. and it's almost a hundred year old space.

(jennifer - incredible) - marlene: before we started even thinking about it i interviews about 150 homeless men and women and did five focus groups with 35 homeless men and women and said "if you were dying and had a place to go, what would it look like, what would it smell like what would it feel like? and kinda their number one priority was to bring nature in. so to bring plants and sunlight and kinda natural things in. and the other one that they all said was - we don't want to be reminded we're poor and homeless. so to be sure it's a quality place. so just an example that entire wall will be a greenery wall with live plants and then, uh, as you come in the entrance there'll be a water wall and there'll be those kind of features throught. jennifer: it's amazing to see such an expanse and to know the possibilities of

what that will be. and the more we walked through it she really painted a picture and i could see the wall of greenery as she described it and here will be the atrium and here will be the kitchen... and by the time we were done i had the feeling we were standing in amongst it already. jennifer: a rehearsal is usually we have a really great time it is a chosen family of sorts. we have a lot of fun just being together but then it's also very challenging and an incredible amount of work and i ask the world of these singers. the music is very difficult the work that needs to be done during the week is extraordinarily huge the standard of performance is quite high - the group is very talented so i'm able to rely a lot on the singers to go off in little groups and work themselves and drill, drill - drill. and then as the season goes on music starts to happen but in the beginning it's a lotta work. ♪ laid my frown and my burdens dooowwn ♪

♪ putin' on my crown♪ ♪ on my way - ay - ay -ay yes!♪ jennifer: i think the hardest but also the most fun part of this job is picking the repertoire. we try to tailor every concert to the particular charity so their mission is highlighted. jennifer: so far example we're doing joshua's house this season so a lot of our songs are about passing on about the great beyond about heav about leaving earth behind. (choir sings) ♪ i'm going back to see my mother - - -♪ jennifer: this is a special, very special group in that not only extremely talented but unified in the sense that everyone is there for the same reason.

everyone is there because the care about the community, they care to help the needy and they care to make a difference so they come in very selflessly. andy paul: i own a business downtown and so we're always interacting with homeless people and you see it everywhere. and it's one of those problems that you just mentally bang your head against the wall. what can be done - and sometimes it's really difficult to have people around who are not in control of themselves - can't help themselves. so to be working for a charity that's not only helping people who are homeless but people who are at the end of their time it's very emotional for me - for all of us. i think u see these peopleandd an incredibly hard life. for who knows how long and to give them a moment at

the most critical moment maybe of their lives, to give them some comfort, some specialness that's really means something to me. (applause) jennifer: this concert in particular i think will be meaningful in the sense we're dealing with hospice care for the homeless. the impact of that is tremendous. i think by the time this is done we will all be changed. jennifer: homelessness is absolutely exploding. in having conversations with them we spent a lot of time talking and hearing their stories and they would say to me you have no idea what it's like just to not be seen. no one looks at me. another man said no one even knows my name. and i can't think of a better description of being a stranger is - then that.

(choir singing) ♪ i'm just a poor wayfaring stranger.♪ ♪ a travelin' through this land of woe. ♪ ♪ but there's no sickness, toil or danger in that fair ♪ ♪ land to which i'd go. ♪ ♪ i'm going back - to see my mother. ♪ ♪ i'm going back no more to roam. ♪ ♪ i'm just a-going over jordan. ♪

♪ i'm just a-going headed home. ♪ richard: i was real happy dyin' at home alone. with my cats surrounded by the things i cared about and loved. i didn't want to die publicly out here on the streets. (choir sings) ♪ but there's no sickness toil or danger ♪ ♪ in that fair land to which i go ♪ ♪ i'm going home... ♪ narrator: serving lunch to the homeless is one way to discover

that we are all connected in the circle of life. singer: ♪ will the circle be unbroken ♪ ♪ by and by lord by and by... ♪ ♪ there's a better home awaitin' if we try lord,♪ ♪ if we try.... ♪ ♪ will the circle be unbroken by and by lord, ♪ ♪ by and by. ♪ ♪ there's a better home awaitin' ♪ ♪ if we try lord if we try... ♪

jennifer: it's very eye-opening and also very humanizing. i think we're conditioned in big cities to just walk right by, and to not see. there's always somebody asking you for money on the street whenever you stop your car. i think we are conditioned to not look and people get desensitized to the need right in front of their face and possibly build up some prejudices as well they must be drug addicts they must be out of their mind. you know something must be very wrong. they're very lesser - how they've done something to themselves to have ended up on the street. but when you're on the other end and you're serving them food and you look them in the eye and they're so grateful and the speak to you like there's no difference at all and you remember that there's no difference at all. it could just as easily be me on that side of the

counter and them serving me. ♪ there's a better home awaitin' if we try lord,♪ ♪ if we try.... ♪ (applause) marlene: people living on the street are very vulnerable to being attacked and beaten up things stolen from them. marlene: to there's that kind of constant stress and worry. it's just a daily, long strugglebout survival. (choir singing) ♪ i've been in the storm so long. ♪

♪ i've been in the storm so long children ♪ ♪ i've been in the storm so long ♪ ♪ so give me little time to pray. ♪ ken williamson: i have know some people here who've died, yeah, it kinda surprised me because they weren't all that unhealthy didn't seam like. i mean i didn't know the exact circumstances why they died people have been killed out here, too. so it's not all just dyin' i mean you could get killed. you gotta watch your p's and q's out here. (cir) ♪ i've been in the storm -so long children. ♪ ♪ i've been in the storm so long... ♪

marlene: i know a lot of folks who are homeless don't sleep at night because of the fear of being attached and beaten up and their property stolen. so it's a very complicated kind of situation. ken: and it's a wakeup call i mean i"m not sayin' it's a good thing to have happened but once you've had it happen it's humbling and you learn that you don't want to go back to it and you better find a way out and stay out that's what i'm thinkin'. as soon as i get a place that's what i'm plannin' on doing. (choir singing) ♪ nobody there to turn me out. ♪ ♪ive me little time to pray - to pray. ♪ ♪ i been in the storm so long. ♪ ♪ i been in the storm so long children. ♪

♪ i been in the storm so long. ♪ ♪ ahhhhh - just give me little time to pray - - - - to pray ♪ ♪ ahhhhh - just give me little time to pray - - - - to pray ♪ ♪ - - - - - to pray - to pray. ♪ ♪ - - - - - to pray - to pray. ♪

(choir singing) ♪ if you would comfort me ♪ ♪ sing me a lullaby. ♪ ♪ if you would win my heart, sing me a love song. ♪ ♪ if you would morn me and bring me to god. ♪ ♪ sing me a requiem. ♪ ♪ sing me to heaven. ♪

♪ sing me a lullaby. ♪ ♪ a love song. ♪ ♪ a requiem." ♪ marlene: it's hard to talk about him because i miss him. he was just the most loving, caring person. just a very special young man that cared about other people that wanted to make a difference that wanted to reach out. that's why i think i feel him with me now that this is so important to him and we want to do it right and we want it make a comfortable, safe home for people, choir singing ♪ sing me to heaven.. .♪ jennifer: it's so important for people to realize just

how much need the is in their communities that goes unseen every single day. julie adams: people just have such a heart. and the work they do is unsung. so - rsvp sings their song. (choir singing) ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i've left my feet of clay upon the ground. ♪ ♪ i will be glory bound. ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ when i am gone don't you cry for me ♪ ♪ don't you pity my sorry soul. ♪

♪ what pain there might have been will now be passed ♪ ♪ and my spirit will be whole. ♪ ♪ i'll be on by way. ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i'll have left my feet of clay upon the ground ♪ ♪ i will be glory bound. ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ when i am gone please forgive the wrongs that i ♪ ♪ might have done to you. ♪ ♪ there'll be no room for regrets high above way ♪ ♪ beyond the blue. ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i will lay my frown and all my burdens down i'll be ♪ ♪ puttin' on my crown i'll be on my way." ♪

jennifer: it's just not typical to give all the money away. but there's also nothing like it and the impact you have is extraordinary. and if we all did it - across the country - imagine how many people would be helped. ♪ i''ll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i will feel my feet a goin' through the air they'll be ♪ ♪ goin' everywhere i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i will lay my frown and all my burdens down ♪ ♪ i'll be on my way. ♪ ♪ i will have left my feet of clay upon the ground ♪ ♪ i will be glory bound i'll be on my way." ♪♪

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