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A Gift of Music for Homeless : Shelters: Choir called a therapeutic tool for poor children suffering worries and fears of an adult world.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

In a room that is too small for the energy and enthusiasm of the dozen or so children who occupy it, Anthony Goss is trying to preside over a rather rambunctious Christmas choir.

The children are engaged in a rendition of “Away In a Manger,” playing the notes on tone bells which they plunk with rubber mallets. Some are good at hitting their bells on cue, others bang away with abandon.

Goss, a 24-year-old music therapist, is a gentle but persistent conductor, imparting guidance and praise at just the right moments.

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“Oh, wonderful,” he says, encouraging a reluctant child who has hit a perfect note on his bell. “Good Lupe, good job Chris.”

He clearly has a way with children.

What he wishes he also had, he said, is a magic wand to make all of their problems disappear.

The youngsters he is shaping into a first-rate choir have no permanent homes. They reside with their parents at the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter in Costa Mesa.

Goss began meeting with the children from the shelter in music therapy groups six months ago, one day a week, working to release their inner feelings through music.

Once-shy, alienated children have slowly blossomed into the eager group practicing for today’s Christmas pageant at the shelter.

Besides performing as a bell choir, the children will sing “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” complete with pantomime gestures.

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Goss is doing his best to accommodate all of the children’s wishes.

One 10-year-old girl will do a solo of “White Christmas,” while the other children provide a background of paper snowflakes. Other children will improvise their own dances to the rap song, “Have a Funky Funky Christmas.”

There will be poems and a nativity scene. And on this special day, the children will not only provide the entertainment but will also prepare refreshments for their parents and the shelter staff.

The youngsters look forward to the performance with nervous excitement.

“I’ll probably have some butterflies in my stomach, but I’ve been in front of people before and I don’t get that

embarrassed,” said 10-year-old Nicole Drury, the angelic-faced youngster who will sing “White Christmas.”

“I am gonna be nervous,” admitted Manuel Ortiz, 14. Manuel, proud owner of an electronic keyboard, has been practicing “Jingle Bells” and will accompany the singers.

For Goss, the Christmas choir represents more than just the trick of getting young voices to sing in unison.

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He graduated from Cal State Long Beach in May with a degree in music therapy and began an internship at Fairview Developmental Center, working with developmentally disabled adults.

But he decided to take on another project after hearing about the shelter and the needs of the children there.

Healing Power

Music is a therapeutic tool that can ease the emotional trauma of homelessness for the children, he said.

“Music is good because (the children) can be successful on many levels,” said Goss, a resident of Huntington Beach. “Being able to play the bells, having individual parts--it raises their self-esteem.”

The children share and take turns in the music sessions and learn how important it is to give and receive praise.

The music is also a release for children who are often burdened with the worries and fears of an adult, wondering where the family will sleep that night or where their next meal will come from.

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“Different kids choose different kinds of music to express anger and fear. They look forward to all of the activities here, but Anthony (Goss) is definitely the shining star,” said Cindy Ochs, executive director of the shelter.

“It is especially important for kids who are newly homeless. A crisis has hit the family, they may have lived in a motel for several months or in a car and they are really frightened. This gives them a time to be real safe, in a nice little room where they can play out some of their emotions.”

The “music” room at the shelter is almost claustrophobic even without 12 bounding youngsters and includes a large wall map, a television, coloring pencils, records, a broken down sofa and a few chairs scaled to a child’s size.

But there also are festive touches, including a small Christmas tree pinned with little stockings bearing the children’s names.

On a recent rehearsal night, Goss holds up a sheet of paper with colored circles that match the notes on the children’s bells.

He is having trouble keeping the attention of some of the younger ones who are roughhousing, falling on each other with peals of laughter.

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But Goss is a hands-on teacher, kneeling or sitting at their level, making eye contact, urging them on.

“The hardest thing is discipline because they are such a handful,” he said. “But we have boundaries and rules and they learn after a while.”

When asked what they want for Christmas, the children offer the standard laundry list of goodies.

“Nintendo,” said 10-year-old James Curtis.

“And roller skates,” adds 12-year-old Melinda Ortiz.

Most will readily tell a visitor how long they have been without a permanent home, but there is a also a reticence and shyness about their predicaments.

“They are aware of their situations,” Goss said. “One little boy didn’t want to be a part of the newspaper article because his friends would read about him.”

Facing Reality

Goss must also deal with that reality. During one session, he had the children pretend to be Peter Pan and directed them to think a happy thought. But they were also told that happy thoughts won’t make their real-life problems go away.

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Working with homeless children is pretty sobering, Goss concedes. “But I always knew I would want to be on the front lines, directly involved with people,” he said.

His commitment is not lost on the children.

“He teaches us about how to enjoy all of the good times we have and experience a lot of stuff,” Nicole Drury said. “He’s really a good teacher.”

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