In an unassuming building in Perth's north, the Second Chance Choir is bringing people together through music to help them put aside years of trauma, violence and substance abuse.
What's next? On a gloomy Tuesday evening, the sound of Amazing Grace drifts out of an unassuming building, wedged between a sports store and a government office in Perth 's north.
Inside, dozens of people are shedding their inhibitions to sing loud and proud, putting aside years of trauma, violence and addiction. Choir founder Jade Lewis came up with the idea in 2009 while running a support program in a women's prison.
"I saw a group of women who had lost their voice and I could relate, because I had lost my own voice through trauma and addiction," she said. "But then I got the courage and I began to think, well somebody helped me when I was in my brokenness, then perhaps I should be helping them in their brokenness," she said. "I started to see a lot of their challenges came when they actually finished their time in prison.
They found it hard to get homes, jobs, to get on with their life.
"Although many members belong to faith communities and their main song is the Christian hymn Amazing Grace, Ms Lewis said the choir was open to everyone. "Singing a song and coming together in a non-invasive, non-intrusive environment … you start to meet people that have overcome their own challenges," she said.
" find people that believe in them and who are willing to give them a second chance, and what I really love about the choir is that they don't just find their voice, they find their song. "Ryan Brownhill started taking drugs at 15, eventually becoming addicted to amphetamines. "My life was lacking hope and I didn't know a way out of the life I was living.
""So to be able to sing to give other people hope that hey, if it's possible that I was able to change my life, then it's possible for other people as well. " The Second Chance Choir was formed in 2022 to support people coming out of prison, as well as those with challenging backgrounds. Fellow choir member Valeria Mazza spent two decades addicted to drugs after a traumatic childhood involving family violence.
"I went into prison this angry person … I hated everybody, I blamed everyone," she said. Ms Mazza met Ms Lewis when she was mentoring prisoners and said it made all the difference when she was released for the last time in 2014.
"The other three times when I got out, there was no support, there were no programs that I could go into and I just went back to the same way of living, just back into that same lifestyle — drugs, crime, looking for love in the wrong places," she said. "Instead of running back to drugs when I would fight with my family or when things would go wrong … I would pick up the phone to these beautiful women that were there to support me.
"A different way to be a manMr Baker believes the choir shows a different way to be a man. "Instead of like trying to have that bravado up, you know, just let your shell loose a little bit, you can just sing at the top of your lungs and just be like 'woo hoo', you know? "Ms Lewis would like to see more initiatives like the Second Chance Choir developed in WA.
"I think there are a lot of programs out there that manage behaviour, but a choir actually provides a pathway where people can find hope, dignity and community," she said. "Don't give up, just keep trying. Put one foot in front of the other everyone deserves a second chance," she said.
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