(gentle music) - [Stephanie] From the very beginning, we knew we had something really special.

♪ This is the sound of one voice ♪ - Honestly, most of it has just come naturally over the years.

I mean, we've been in operation for eight years now.

♪ Who makes a choice ♪ - And our goal has always been to continually expand, not only in the arts opportunities that we're able to provide, but also in services and resources.

And that only happens when we're able to get our name out in the community, the broader community.

♪ This is the sound of voices two ♪ ♪ The sound of me singing with you ♪ - Part of the reason we do public events is to advocate to the public for what's going on with homelessness.

There's a circle that knows about us, and we have really great supporters.

Unfortunately, the breadth of misunderstanding and misperception and presumptions about people experiencing homelessness is way wider than what our current circle of fans and supporters are.

♪ Singing with love and the will to trust ♪ ♪ Leave the rest behind ♪ ♪ It will turn to dust ♪ ♪ This is the sound of all of us ♪ ♪ This is the sound of all of us ♪ - We are so grateful that you're here today and thankful to the Norfolk Arts Commission for making it possible for us to be in this beautiful historic theater.

We are, yeah, absolutely.

(audience applauds) - We have developed this relationship with the Norfolk Arts Commission over the years, and it's been great.

They had this opportunity for small nonprofits to be able to use the Attucks Theatre.

I mean, the Attucks Theatre is so rich in history and history that our community really appreciates, a history that they can connect to and a place that they're not normally welcomed into.

♪ We all have sorrows ♪ ♪ But if we are wise, we know that there's ♪ - We got an increase in funding for the arts.

We were hearing from our organizations that they wanted to connect more with each other and that many of 'em really wanted to get into the Attucks Theatre but couldn't afford to.

And our bosses and people in the city and city council and the mayor were saying, "Let's get the Attucks more activated."

So it was almost a no-brainer saying, "We have some money for equity.

We have groups who wanna be in the Attucks.

And we have city council saying to us, "The Attucks isn't all that we hope it can be."

♪ Tomorrow ♪ - So we worked out an arrangement and said, "Okay, we will cover the cost of renting the Attucks, and we'll give you some extra money for marketing, things like that, for you to do a performance as long as it is free and open to the public.

♪ To lean on ♪ - I think the event at the Attucks provided opportunity to be around a professional environment that they'd not been around, and that happened in a lot of ways.

One of them was being in a professional theater with a professional theater crew with an audio tech, a lighting tech, and all of that.

That was a whole new experience for all of our singers.

The other one was that the grant really provided specifically for community groups to perform with professionals they would not normally get to perform with.

So while we have a small band that plays with us all the time, I was able to bring on a cellist, an additional percussionist, a bass player we hadn't worked with before, and that provided a kind of energy.

And then I had eight professional singers.

The point of that was not in any way to offer singing support to the Street Choir.

It was to make visible on stage this idea that we are community with each other and all worthy.

That's sort of a setup that we normally wouldn't have the opportunity to do.

♪ You had a care ♪ - Being able to perform at the Attucks Theatre, really awesome.

As someone who's a born and bred Hampton Roads native, especially here in Norfolk, it was my first time ever going inside of that theater.

- It was my dream come true in singing with the Street Choir.

- It was amazing being on stage.

All the hard work did pay off.

- These are our neighbors.

They have a right to art and to music and to beautiful things as well.

- This is a part of our community, and they have a voice, and they deserve to be seen and heard and appreciated.

And it's a great way to show that off.

(audience cheers) (audience applauds) - Yeah, Norfolk, mm!

(audience cheering) Come on!

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