HEALING MUSES

Healing Muses aims to:
1. Use healing music to provide a calming and stress-reducing environment for patients, visitors and staff at no direct cost to patients.

2. Provide quiet, musical sound that:
-- In waiting rooms, offers a measure of privacy for people to have quiet conversations and/or deal with emotions and a positive distraction to focus children.
-- On the wards and near nurses' stations, lowers background noise and reinforce the culture of healing.

3. Keep abreast of research on the therapeutic effects of music and its use in hospitals, palliative care and cancer centers, and convalescent centers; use that to inform our repertoire.

4. Raise awareness about the healing potential of live, top-quality music through our program and interactions.

5. Solidify our organization financially with a sustainable model, and develop an engaged community of supporters, volunteers, and advocates so that our mission continues.

Healing Muses' mission and program are based upon the body of knowledge and research that has confirmed the power of music to reduce stress and promote healing. Our strategy and approach for maximizing the benefit of music falls into two main categories:

1. Provide consistent, professional, high-quality services that meet the needs of our clients, their staff and their own clientele
a) Provide services in targeted locations, namely cancer care centers, convalescent centers, hospital wards and waiting rooms, where benefit goes to patients either directly, or by benefiting those who serve them

b) Employ professional musicians who possess the following qualifications
-- Have memorized an appropriate repertoire, allowing them to gauge 'audience' mood, and adjust for the situation while they are playing
-- Demonstrate situational awareness to model calm, centered, respectful behavior in the hospital setting

c) Use instruments that don't complete with the human voice and thus help lower noise volume and provide a measure of privacy

d) Conduct ongoing research and program review by the musicians ('Muses')

2. Continue to develop our organization into a sustainable, professionally-led not-for-profit, with a solid community of support
a) Develop a sustainable financial model that looks to combined private, public and community sources for ongoing support

b) Identify and expand our partnerships, contract opportunities and grants

c) Conduct ongoing organizational assessment and planning by Board and staff

d) Hold educational and fundraising activities to engage, grow our base and increase understanding of the healing potential of targeted, live music

The organization's capabilities, like any solid mission-driven organization, lies in the commitment, skills, talents and collaborative work of its people:
• A deeply committed Board, whose members include several with professional music and/or healthcare backgrounds and expertise in our program work

• The musical expertise and reputations of our professional musicians, some of whom have been serving in health care through Healing Muses for more than a decade

• A repertoire of music thoroughly vetted for meeting our program goals and the needs of those listening

Healing Muses has made great strides in strengthening our organization, the Board, our program, and financial health. Accomplishments include:

1. Organization & Board
-- Developed and instituted a set of policies and procedures to ensure consistent, professional management in line with our ethical goals and fiduciary responsibilities
--- Rejuvenated our Board with new, committed members possessing needed skills

2. Program
-- Added to our core group of harpers, gaining depth and breadth in repertoire and scheduling flexibility
-- Expanded our sites and increased our engagements

3. Fundraising & donor base
-- Maintained a dedicated donor base
-- From 2016 to 2019 increased community contributions by 23 percent
-- Shifted to a single fundraising event, vastly improving cost-to-benefit ratio

As we look ahead to the future, Healing Muses aims to achieve the following:

1. Organization and Board
-- Develop a realistic three-year plan for the organization
-- Grow our community base to develop potential new Board members
-- Bring onto the Board or identify volunteers with fund-raising, grant-writing skills
-- Improve our financial situation to fund increased staffing to better support our program and its goals

2. Program
-- Seek and sign new contracts
-- Improve our financial situation to fund engagements at low-income clinics that lack the budget for our services – this is an important objective for us

3. Fund-raising & donor base
-- Solidify our financial situation to support key program and organizational objectives
-- Procure ongoing, sustainable, long-term funding to ensure continued existence of Healing Muses and our mission. We have successfully pivoted to a donor and grant-based financial plan since 2017.