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--The New Directions Choir will
be performing at Governor Gray Davis’ Statewide Summit
on Homelessness in Sacramento, CA on Monday, April 22, 2002.
The New Directions Choir consists of current and former residents
of New Directions Inc., a long-term residential treatment
center serving more than 800 veterans a year. New Directions
Inc. is located on the grounds of the United States Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in West Los Angeles.
An estimated 27,000 homeless veterans reside in Los Angeles,
comprising 33 percent of the area's homeless population.
An Executive Order has been issued directing State agencies
and departments to develop a coordinated plan to integrate
services and include homelessness prevention efforts as a
priority in all state programs. "Homelessness is one
of the most complex and heart-wrenching problems we face,"
Gov. Davis said. "There are no simple solutions. But
we have to start by making it a statewide priority."
New Directions Inc., a nonprofit agency founded by veterans,
provides drug and alcohol detoxification, intensive substance
abuse treatment, and job training. Last year, 95 percent of
the veterans who entered the center's job-training program
found jobs at livable wages, according to Toni Reinis, New
Directions' Executive Director. New Directions has been selected
to receive the governor's Certificate for Employer Excellence
for providing outstanding employment services to veterans.
"Our choir proves that, given the right environment and
a chance to recover from drugs and alcohol and to learn new
skills, people can turn their lives around. What is unique
about the New Directions Choir is that they make us all aware
of the many talents that have been wasted by allowing homelessness
in our nation." Reinis said.
As National Veterans Creative Arts Festival "Gold Medal
Winners" of Los Angeles, the choir was invited to participate
at a weeklong competition in Washington, D.C., where they
won "first place" at the National Veterans Creative
Arts Festival. The Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center hosted
the competition, an official millennium event produced in
partnership with the White House Millennium Council, featuring
regional veteran performers from all over the United States.
The New Directions Choir performs both popular songs and traditional
gospel music, a capella. The choir has performed at more than
100 events, including the Donny and Marie Show, the National
Democratic Convention, and the Los Angeles Public Library
opening ceremony of "The Way Home" photo exhibition,
featuring photographs of the homeless by Tipper Gore, Annie
Liebowitz, Clarence Williams, and other renowned photographers.
News Directions' choir director and songwriter George Hill
was homeless for 10 years, living in MacArthur Park. A graduate
of New Directions, he is now majoring in computer science
at Santa Monica College. "Through singing, we hope to
let other vets who are still out there know there is another
way," Hill said.
For more information, please contact Mary
MacGyver at (310) 914-4045.
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