[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 110 (Wednesday, July 11, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1485-E1486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ANOINTED VOICES' CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEW YORK CITY

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                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 11, 2007

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I stand today to recognize the 
inspirational and commendable work of Anointed Voices as part of the 
therapeutic ministries of the Bowery Mission in New York City and to 
enter into the record an article from the New York Times entitled 
``Recovering Addicts Sing of Faith and Hope.''
  Anointed Voices is an a cappella group, started in 2006, housed in 
the Bowery Mission: a faith based organization that serves the 
homeless, helps people fight their addictions to alcohol or drugs, and 
assists individuals with leading lives independent of substance abuse. 
It is considered one of New York City's most successful homeless 
shelters, providing compassionate and life-changing care to the city's 
most vulnerable populations.
  The men who sing in the a cappella group were once homeless and 
struggling with addiction yet somehow found their way to the Mission. 
Their life stories reveal the power of faith and the power of 
individual will to overcome life's most challenging obstacles. They 
went from losing everything to becoming a voice of inspiration and 
encouragement to others. Anointed Voices sings in prisons and hospitals 
to the incarcerated, the youth, and the sick. Everyone who has had the 
pleasure and experience to hear their message has been both moved and 
impressed.
  I am truly pleased to know that not only have these men turned their 
lives around, they are also empowering others to do the same.

          At the Bowery Mission, Songs of Faith and Redemption

                           (By Dalton Walker)

       Inside an empty chapel in Lower Manhattan, Dwight Walker 
     stood with his back facing the empty rows of pews. His voice 
     began to rise with songs that included words like faith, 
     found and lost. Five other men joined him.
       ``The storm is passing over--have faith in the Lord,'' Mr. 
     Walker sang in the sanctuary at the Bowery Mission.
       The six men are known as Anointed Voices, an a cappella 
     group that sings and preaches in churches, in hospitals, 
     before youth groups and in prisons.
       Theirs is a small tale of redemption--of how hard work, 
     willpower and faith can sometimes lead people away from lives 
     of desolation. All were homeless at some point, struggling 
     with drug and alcohol addiction. All forged a new path at the 
     Bowery Mission, a faith-based organization that serves the 
     homeless.
       ``The message is, no matter where you come from, there is a 
     place God has given you,'' said James Macklin, 67, a member 
     of Anointed Voices and director of outreach for the mission. 
     ``The only thing one has to do is mine for this goal and make 
     a human being all he can be.''
       In 2004, Ien Williams, 46, lost everything to his cocaine 
     addiction: his marriage, his truckdriving business and his 
     home in Queens. He carried his possessions in two suitcases 
     through the streets of Manhattan.
       Someone told him about the Bowery Mission, and though he 
     was wary of its emphasis on Christianity, he decided he had 
     nothing to lose by going there. Spending time there helped 
     him beat his addiction, he said, and now Mr. Williams lives 
     at the mission, on the Bowery near Rivington Street, where he 
     is in charge of housekeeping duties. The other singers call 
     him ``the minister'' because of his preaching.
       ``For me, it's a total worship experience,'' Mr. Williams 
     said. ``I sense the presence of God. This is where I'm 
     safe.''
       The life stories of the other singers--Eugene Chisholm, 
     Dennis Ogarra and Carroll Baylor--are strikingly similar to 
     Mr. Williams's. Three of the six live at the mission, while 
     the others have found their own places.
       Mr. Ogarra helped found Anointed Voices in 2006 and 
     recruited Mr. Walker and Mr. Williams. The others joined soon 
     after.

[[Page E1486]]

       Elvon R. Borst, manager of alumni programs at the mission, 
     was impressed when she heard the group perform recently at a 
     church in the Bronx.
       ``It seems to me that the men really try to deliver a 
     message of encouragement and hope,'' she said.
       Mr. Macklin serves as the group's coordinator, arranging 
     four or five performances a month. Some churches have been 
     particularly welcoming, impressed with their music and their 
     message.
       ``Everyone,'' Mr. Macklin said, ``deserves a second 
     chance.''
       Two years ago, Mr. Walker, at 39 the youngest of the six 
     members, was using large amounts of crack cocaine. His 
     awakening came, he said, when he was shoved into a van in 
     Manhattan with a bag over his head. The details, he said, are 
     vague because he was high on crack. The next thing he 
     remembers was a bright light shining through the bag into his 
     eyes, he said. It was the police.
       Mr. Walker eventually found his way to the Bowery Mission. 
     ``This has helped me stay clean, helped me develop a 
     relationship with God,'' he said.
       Mr. Ogarra, 49, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, joined 
     the Army to escape living on the streets. He was stationed in 
     Kansas at Fort Riley, but before long he was back to his old 
     ways--using crack and cocaine and abusing alcohol.
       After he was discharged from the Army he moved back to 
     Brooklyn. ``I took the habit with me,'' Mr. Ogarra said.
       His addictions kept his life in chaos, preventing him from 
     holding a steady job, and leading to the breakup of his 
     marriage. In 2005, he said, he stood on a Long Island Rail 
     Road platform on Atlantic Avenue and thought about killing 
     himself. But something stopped him, he said, and someone who 
     spotted him called the police. An officer suggested he seek 
     help at the Bowery Mission.
       ``I was just mixed up,'' Mr. Ogarra said. ``I drank many 
     years away. I did many things. I had no direction, no drive 
     and no hope.''
       The mission has kept him free of drugs. and the musical 
     group has given him a more hopeful view of life. He now lives 
     in Washington Heights and has a job with U.S. Security 
     Associates, a nationwide security firm.
       ``It's a godsend I got here,'' Mr. Ogarra said. ``I've 
     learned to trust in my faith. If! was to give up I would be 
     lost.''
       A tear rolled down Mr. Ogarra's right cheek as he spoke. 
     But as the six men talked about their lives and prepared for 
     another singing performance, there were plenty of jokes and 
     laughter, too. ``We're kind of like a family,'' Mr. Macklin 
     said.

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