Boston Healthcare for the Homeless

Since last year, our partnership with the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless has blossomed into a truly beautiful weekly series. Every Sunday morning the musicians of the Lyrica Orchestra have been attending the BHCHP Church service and performing music for the Prelude, Hymnal, Prayer Meditation, and Postlude. Our work with BHCHP has been extremely touching. Thanks to our wonderful Pastor, Suzanne Woolston- Bossert, the residents of BHCHP and our musicians have both received the benefit of her wise words and poignant analysis of religious texts. In addition to her work, we, too have been able to directly connect with the members of the BHCHP community by delivering our Music Grams both virtual and brick and mortar cards and collaborating in real time on a traditional Christmas Carol with a resident piano player.

It has been a great joy to initiate a partnership with such a creative and compassionate group as the Lyrica Orchestra-Citizen’s Artist Orchestra. I am an ordained Protestant minister who has worked with the homeless population at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless for several years. BHCHP is an extraordinary program which seeks to meet the myriad, complex needs of the unhoused population in greater Boston. When the Covid pandemic caused such a wrenching shift to normal life in 2020, many volunteer support programs were paused for safety reasons at BHCHP.

In November 2020, in an effort to bridge some of the social gaps of quarantine, a Sunday worship service was suggested to try to address the spiritual needs of patients. It was then that Lyrica Citizens Orchestra director, Laura Bossert, stepped forward with a generous offer of a quartet to partner with me in creating high-quality live music for the services.

The level of expertise and excellence from this talented group of musicians creates a magical environment on Sunday mornings, transporting all of us away from the superficial limitations of zoom screens. Covid restrictions include a prohibition against public singing in indoor locations, so without the presence of this beautiful orchestra, the liturgy would be reduced to just the spoken word, a severe limitation indeed.

Bossert, along with Administrative Director, Leah Froyd, work with me weekly to create liturgy with integrity—they are always ready to play the great hymns of the Christian tradition, as well as arranging selections during a period we call “music for meditation,” which I know the patients greatly enjoy.

Even so, just how effective can remote services be? Well, almost every Sunday patients stand up during a time of prayer and express deep gratitude for the experience of the service. We have heard moving stories from people struggling with addiction, tough medical diagnoses, loneliness, and anxiety.... they talk about being transported by the music (I recall one gentleman stood up and even thanked God “for the wood of these beautiful instruments”); many state how being able to hear scripture and communal prayers and beloved hymns gives them real hope. There are a range of patients, some who grew up in traditional church settings and others who are still on a seeker’s journey, but no matter why they chose to attend the Sunday gathering, many state that they feel ministered at the soul level. The lushness of the string instruments conjure reverence at the deepest level in all of us who hear it.

The gift of music at BHCHP is only just beginning. I am hopeful that the musicians can be supported in an ongoing way in their endeavor to create collaborative relationships with patients, a vision that Laura Bossert and her partners will bring to fuller life as covid restrictions ease in the coming year. Music has the power to change the world, one person at a time, and I’m thrilled to be on this journey with the Lyrica Citizens Orchestra.

Rev. Suzanne Woolston Bossert

United Church of Christ Minister

All proceeds go back into supporting our work with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, communities and individuals in dire financial need, and employing homeless artists and musicians.