Songs for Help, Hope, Healing & Comfort

Dear Supporter and Friend,

I am excited to bring you up to date with the progress of our songbook for hope, help, healing and comfort. This is a challenging time. Each week we hear more stories in the media about suffering and loss as a direct result of racism, racial profiling, and now war.  These stories cause grief, devastation and social unrest, often resulting in violence. This is especially difficult for children. Their teachers understand and have been drawing upon the songs and musical teaching techniques they’ve been learning in their GITC training courses this spring to directly, sensitively, and creatively cultivate understanding and student self expression. Our book continues to expand with input from the teachers!

This spring, thanks to your support, we are also including these songs, and their history, in over 50 teaching artist residencies as a part of musical learning. When classroom teachers share the songs with their students the music has the effect of restoring connection, amplifying joy, administering care and teaching kindness.

The songs that have become part and parcel of this body of work are helping teachers and children get through tough moments of this difficult school year. And there are thousands of guitar and ukulele strumming people who are not involved in education for whom this book could also make a difference. We are still hoping to find a publisher who sees the point of it, has a team to get copyrights licensed, and a sales department that can get it out onto shelves (brick and mortar as well as virtual) where more people can find solace and inspiration between its pages.

We are so grateful to each of you who has donated to this project. We are still working on getting the book published by reaching out to potential partners on the project.  Meanwhile, teachers and students continue to take comfort and gain hope from the songs.

Thanks for keeping the faith and giving as you have.

Warmly,

Jess