Alabama nonprofits Sozo Children and Grace Klein Community demonstrate the power of collaboration
A few of the members of the Sozo Children's Choir, from Uganda. Thanks to Grace Klein Community, they have a home away from home in Birmingham during their current U.S. tour. (contributed)
When Sozo Children – a ministry serving Ugandan youth rescued from extreme circumstances such as abuse, abandonment and trafficking – needed a temporary U.S. home for its Uganda-based children’s choir, an offer from Grace Klein Community was music to its ears.
Sozo Children, headquartered in Birmingham, provides housing, healthcare, counseling and education to more than 150 children in Uganda. It also operates Sozo Trading Co., an upscale thrift store in Birmingham’s Avondale neighborhood that helps provide funds for the ministry.
Grace Klein Community, also located in Birmingham, is an educational and charitable nonprofit that operates FEEDBHM, a food rescue initiative where good food is diverted from ending up in landfills and reallocated onto the plates of the food insecure. In addition to food support and other programs, Grace Klein shares resources with families in need, such as diapers and wipes, clothing and small household items.
Last fall, as Sozo Children was firming up plans for its choir’s 2024 U.S. tour, staff member Terry Schrimscher happened to meet Grace Klein staffer Lindsay Glass during a networking session at Elevate, the annual conference for Alabama nonprofits hosted by the Alabama Power Foundation.
The two talked about ways the ministries might work together. But it wasn’t until Sozo staffer Haley Jones told her friend, Liz Harrison of Grace Klein, about the choir that things began to fall in place for the organizations to collaborate.
Sozo Children needed a place where 13 children and four adults from its Uganda facility could stay. Grace Klein Community, it so happened, had a community home in Birmingham that could safely and comfortably accommodate the whole crew.
Not only that; Grace Klein Community offered to help provide meals for the children and their chaperones while they were in Birmingham; combined, the housing and meal support was huge for Sozo Children.
“It has saved us tremendously on expenses,” Schrimscher said last week by phone from Florida, where the choir was performing before heading back to Birmingham for a big concert on Wednesday, March 13, at Samford University’s Wright Center. The 7 p.m. performance is free and open to the public. For more information and to reserve seats, click here.
Members of the Sozo Children’s Choir kick back at the Grace Klein community house between travel and performances. (contributed)
“A wise African proverb explains, ‘If you want to go far, go together; if you want to go fast, go alone,’” said Grace Klein Community founder Jenny Waltman. “Partnering with Sozo Children is an easy decision for Grace Klein Community because we want to go far. Everything we do at Grace Klein Community is about relationships. We share resources to build relationships for the restoration of individuals, families and entire communities.”
Sozo Children’s Choir arrived in the states the last week of January. It is their fifth U.S. tour.
“The choir began as an outreach program for us in 2016 and is a great experience for the kids we serve in Uganda,” Suzanne Owens, CEO of Sozo Children, said in a news release about the tour.
“The choir tour is a mission trip, but it’s more than just a chance for the kids to visit America. We want the kids to come away from this knowing they are loved and that they matter,” Owens said.
The Ugandan children stayed at the Grace Klein Community house all through February while performing around the Birmingham region at churches, schools and other locations. The choir is on the road for much of March and April, with performances in Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware. They will cap their journey with a three-week run in New York City, the choir’s first time in the Big Apple.
Sozo Children’s Choir. (contributed)
Whenever the choir is not on the road, Grace Klein Community is putting them up in Birmingham.
“We’re so grateful to Grace Klein Community for leading with their hearts and leading with their faith,” Owens of Sozo Children said.
“It’s cool to think about two rescue organizations coming together and doing Kingdom work. We rescue children and they rescue food, and we were able to blend our work together for a group of children.”
Before the choir heads home to Uganda, they will perform at a fundraiser for Sozo Children at the Birmingham Zoo. “Sozo Safari” is scheduled for April 20 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The family friendly event includes dinner, a DJ, games and up-close encounters with elephants, giraffes and other animals. For more information and tickets, click here.
Owens said the generosity Grace Klein has shown to Sozo Children and the choir underscores the good that can happen when like-minded nonprofits collaborate.
“Grace Klein saw an opportunity to help a group of children who can’t give them anything in return, except a few smiles and some great memories, and they unselfishly jumped in with their strengths and resources,” Owens said.
“It just shows what organizations can do when they work together, and often the biggest barrier to working together is desire. If you want to help someone, you will find a way.”
