Sometimes an idea comes from within. In 1998, when Lake Worth violinist Ginny Meredith was faced with the prospect of undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, she sensed that escaping into music would be her best coping mechanism. �I just listened to music the whole time. Even at night, when I�d go to sleep, I�d listen to music.�
And sometimes an idea comes from without. In the spring of 2000, while on a ski trip to Utah, Ginny met up with her old roomate Janna Jensen, who had founded a non-profit organization in Salt Lake City called Heart and Soul. The purpose of Jensen�s organization is to provide live music free of charge to institutions such as senior centers and rehab units; thinking back to how helpful music had been during her chemotherapy, Ginny �put two and two together.� Upon her return to South Florida, Ginny decided to research whether there was any such organization locally. �We researched 50 facilities; we just sent out a mass fax questionaire to� different type[s], like rehab centers and shelters, and asked them, would they find a service like this valuable, and we got an overwhelming response� Just about everybody either faxed us or called us and said, �Yes, we would love that! Call us next week!� �
Armed with the knowledge that the organization she envisioned was indeed needed, Ginny decided to get the ball rolling even before funding had been established. �In order to give us some credibility, I wanted to be able to write into grants that we were already [providing live music]. It�s not like we were sitting around and waiting for people to give us money.�
So the first Inspirit gig took place at the Heartland Health Care center in Palm Beach Gardens. �I got [pianist] Pete Schlagel to go and play in the lobby. We got a really good response; you could see the people tapping their toes, and that they were really enjoying it.�
Since then, this 501(c) organization has gone on to provide music, dance and spoken-word performances for over 22,000 people over the course of its existence, in venues such as senior centers, hospitals and shelters. But even with raising $200,000 over the years through grants, corporate sponsorship and individual donors, Inspirit�s modest resources put a limit on how much it can do. �We have to be choosy because we have so much demand, and we can only really afford, if you will, to do 10-12 performances a month.�
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inspirit [transitive verb] to fill with spirit, encourage
-- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
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Inspirit is proof that a good idea can cross a nation. The Utah organization Heart and Soul that inspired Ginny was itself inspired by the San Francisco non-profit Bread and Roses, founded in the �70s by Joan Baez�s sister, the late Mimi Farina. According to Ginny, the idea of a performance outlet for local musicians was just as important to Farina as was providing a service to her target audiences : �She just felt like, hey, everybody doesn�t have the chance to be a well-known musician, but there�s a lot of talented people out there. Why don�t we give them a venue to perform, and make it into a win-win situation?�
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�I experience things through playing for Inspirit that I never even saw performing in New York City. To entertain people in need is equal parts music and therapy � for both myself and the audience.�
Nat Epstein
Late Drummer/Vocalist/Bandleader
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Even with the Bread and Roses example, Ginny admits that �I had no idea when we started [Inspirit] the impact it was gonna have on the performer. I was just thinking of it as a one-way thing, but the performers are really transformed. People who are kinda jaded, and they�ve played for drunks at a bar their whole life, [suddenly] have this captive, appreciative audience listening to every word they say. They really like doing it, because it makes them feel good too.�
But in at least one case, the effect on the performer went beyond the immediate gratification of an attentive audience. Billy Veeder, a bass player and recovering addict, would perform at the Fern House shelter, singing and telling stories about overcoming addiction. After doing so for a year and a half, Billy decided at the age of 50 to move to Tallahassee with his family to pursue a degree in music therapy at Florida State University.
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The music and entertainment offerings provided by Inspirit have proven to be an invaluable resource in providing our patients with opportunities to express themselves through the powerful medium of music. From group sing-alongs accompanied by an acoustic guitar to afternoon of dancing to the tunes of a jazz trio, Inspirit has put a smile on the faces of those we serve over and over and over again!
-- Thank-you letter from Ron Radcliffe, Vice-President of Specialized Day Services, Alzheimer�s Community Care
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Of the facilites serviced by Inspirit, Ginny says �I love going to the places [that] don�t have any access to funding [for performances].� The current list includes shelters such as Fern House and Gratitude House ( residential addiction programs), and hospitals such as the Veterans Administration (VA) and the St. Mary�s Hospital Pediatric Oncology Unit. �Audience sizes usually� average about thirty per performance. Some performances there�s a lot more, and some places like the Pediatric Oncology Unit, maybe there�ll be only four or five kids in the unit that day. So if they�re well enough, we�ll gather them up and� take them to this rec room [for the performance]. And so there�ll only be five people in the audience that day, but to me that�s still worth it. And then sometimes if the child is really sick and the parents are okay with it, we�ll have the performer just go right into the room and do one-on-one.�
Inspirit also provides performers for the Ed Healy Rehab center in West Palm Beach, an all-age facility for indigent patients with no health insurance, usually recovering from some catastrophic events. �Those performances are really interesting� They�ve brought people in on stretchers to listen, who have really enjoyed it. Most people really respond very positively.�
In terms of special-needs facilities, Ginny�s favourite to go to is the Habilitation Center in Lake Worth, essentially a day-care facility for developmentally-disabled adults. �That�s a fun crowd� They�re hooting and hollering, and jumping all over the place, and having the time of their life.�
As for playing music for Alzheimer patients, Ginny feels, �It definitely make a connection in their brain� I�ve actually been to [a performance] where some woman started singing along, and afterwards the staff said, �That was amazing. She doesn�t even talk.� And she was singing all the words to this old song.�
Amongst the growing literature recognizing the effect music has on the brain is the 2007 book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks, a British neurologist and the best-selling author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. As Ginny put it, �It�s taken the medical community� a while to come around and see the benefits of [musical performances in facilities], but once we start going to a place, they always want us to come back.�
Still, Ginny is quick to point out �We don�t claim to be [music] therapists� It�s just bringing a little bit of joy and uplifting people�s spirits.�
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If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft
And of thy store two loaves are left
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul
-- Sheikh Muslihuddin Saadi Shirazi
Persian poet,
1184 � 1291
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Given the demand for Inspirit�s service, and the interest in participating exhibited by the musicians, the main limitation on Ginny�s organization seems to be financial. �Musicians come out of the woodwork [to do Inspirit gigs]; a lot of people really want to do this. Tons of facilities want us to come, and tons of musicians want to do this; we�re just putting [them] together. We could probably do two performances a day, every day of the year. If we had the funding.�
But despite the monetary constraint, Inspirit still manages to make an impact, in more ways than one. �I have a whole file of thank-you letters from all these facilities. They�re just so appreciative that we come there. One of the things that�s great, I think, besides providing the music, is that we�re showing people [in these facilities] that somebody cares. They�re lonely, and they�re isolated, and a lot of them are in pain. And just by us showing up, [we�re showing them] there are people in the outside world that care.�
For more information on Inspirit, please visit www.inspiritlive.org online or contact Ginny Meredith at (561) 586-4537