Charity from the Heart – Voices Touching Hearts

Nadia Zuaiter, Social Media Content Editor and Co-Podcast Editor|February 13, 2017

Sacred Heart Greenwich seniors Delia Hughes and Kate Gerstner paired their love of singing with their passion for community service through creating the club Voices Touching Hearts. 

Members of Voices Touching Hearts sing to the residents the King Street Nursing Home during the Christmas season. Courtesy of Delia Hughes ’17.

Voices Touching Hearts is an acapella club that performs at nursing homes and aims to bring the residents joy through music. 

“Delia and I started this club our sophomore year as a way to bring some happiness into the nursing homes in our area,” Kate said. “Music is an easy way for us to reach people so we decided to use our passion to remind the residents that they are loved and thought of.”

About 1.3 million elderly Americans live in nursing homes, and 70 percent rely on Medicaid to pay bills that average $83,000 a year, according to facethefactsusa.org.

Delia and Kate decided to start the club after learning about the isolation of nursing home residents. 

“My grandma spent the last stages of her life in a nursing home before she passed away and it was really hard for me to see her there,” Kate said. “This is why I wanted to visit some of the elderly who are in a similar position to her.”

Delia and Kate are also both members of the Madrigals singing group.

“Instead of just going and talking with the residents, we decided we could now do something a little more engaging for the patients, and it would be something that we love,” Kate said. 

Seniors Hanna Sheehan ’17 and Helen Rail ’17 converse with residents. Courtesy of Delia Hughes ’17.

Last year, the club visited Fairview of Greenwich twice and the King Street Nursing Home once to sing to the residents. This year they expanded their audience. They sang for the Saturdays at Sacred Heart  (SASH) kids around Christmas time and also led a caroling sing-along. 

“It was a great experience and we were really able to make an impact on their lives through music, Christmas cards, and especially the conversations we had with them for about an hour after we sang,” Delia said.

Both Kate and Delia are hopeful that the club will continue to spread love and joy to the residents of nursing homes even after they graduate.

“We hope our club will be continued next year because when we sing for people we can really connect with them and see the impact we can have,” Delia said.