BALTIMORE, Md. — A new choir in Harford County is made up of people whose lives have been affected by addiction.
Hope for a second chance after the clutches of addiction.
"I eventually had no aspirations, no dreams."
A story told through the eyes of a child – one she shouldn't be able to understand.
"This touched me because my cousin was on drugs."
The Harford Recovery Choir gives people the courage to heal and feel.
"In the grips of addiction, I had to do whatever it took to get the next one,"
The next high. Now, Lisa Puglisi gets that high from helping others.
"I want to give back as much as possible to those who are suffering ,"
She got treatment, helps others break addiction’s stubborn chains and wants heal herself--through music. She saw their first performance knew she wanted to be a part of it.
"They sung the song, rise up, and it brought tears to my eyes when you are in the grips of addiction you have to rise up,"
The music this choir makes can evoke so much. The only requirement to join is to have been touched by addiction and have a desire to stop its spread.
"I couldn’t understand my feelings. when you’re using you don’t feel you’re just completely numb,"
Lisa is numb no more and neither is 10 year old Zoriah Caldwell.
"I have a cousin on my dad’s side and he was staying with us because he was living on the street and he was part of a gang and he started using drugs,"
The choir’s youngest member
"I wanted to come with this group to make me not feel as bad as I was when he was using the drugs,"
"I’ve personally been affected by drugs or people and just feeling that disappointment of wanting someone to be there for you and they can’t. not because they don’t love you but because they just don’t have it," said Natasha Jackson, Choir Director.
Because addiction took it all away, this choir hopes to restore.
"I’m looking at all these ways that people are affected by drugs so I thought this was a good opportunity bring people together,"
"People can really make positive changes in their life and you get a second chance,"
And that’s all anyone can ask for.
