Local Whitney Houston Fans Gather To Celebrate Her Life, Illustrious Song Career And Her Heart

CULVER CITY (CBS) — A group of Whitney Houston fans gathered in Culver City Sunday night to celebrate her life, sing her songs and mourn her passing.

CBS2 and KCAL9 reporter Rachel Kim was there for all the hoopla and the love. And she reports, organizers of the event were also saying thank you to Houston, for her unheralded and largely-quiet but constant support.

The fans included Sabrina Johnson, a former Houston back-up singer, and a 12-year-old Mimi Sledge, who wasn't even alive when Whitney Houston first soared on the pop charts 30 years ago. No matter, they were all united in their appreciation for all things Whitney.

As Kim reported, "Whitney Houston may be gone but her songs will live on."

Said Johnson, "I felt like I lost a sister, a mentor, a friend. She taught me to really hone my craft as a musician, to take what I was doing seriously and to realize what I had was not my own, it was a gift God had given me."

Sledge also talked about Houston and her spirituality. "I like all of her songs. She had a really beautiful spirit. She was a woman of God and she loved God."

The celebration of Houston's life was part of a gospel concert to help raise money for the Kierrah Foundation -- they're a support group for young women who are aging-out of the foster care system.

Mimi is one of those girls.

Foundation founder Brandy Sanders tells Kim that Houston was an unabashed supporter of the group. "Whitney was such a big part of all out lives. We love her. We know she would've supported an event like this and we want to honor her for that tonight."

Kim reports the group -- young and old -- sang their hearts out in appreciation and rose to their feet on more than one occasion to mourn not only the passing of a legend, but the loss of someone who lent her heart to their cause.