Do I qualify as an eligible student? |
If you are a Military Veteran, First Responder (Fire, Police, EMT), Corrections Canada, Canada Border Services or Medical personnel (nurses, etc.) that has developed mental and/or physical challenges (such as PTSD) resulting from your duties - you qualify to become a student.
To recap, we draw our main body of students from the following professions:
1) Military Veterans. Regular Force or Reserve. Any branch/trade.
2) First Responders, which include, Fire, Police EMT and Medical Personnel.
3) Corrections Canada.
4) Canada Border Services.
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Do I have to be a Veteran or Emergency Services personnel to volunteer for this program? |
No, you do not need to be a veteran, first responder or medical personnel to become a volunteer for this program. We welcome anyone that would like to help with this worthy program by filling any of our many volunteer roles.
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I am a pensioner. Will volunteer involvement in this program affect my disability status? |
No. This program is run by many volunteers dealing with disabilities who recieve pensions. As there is no compensation within this program, at all levels, you are within your rights to volunteer as much as you want without jeopardizing your income.
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Do I need to have physical/psychological challenges to become a student? |
As much as we would like to extend our student base for everyone, our focus is on healing through music for our injured veterans, emergency services, medical, Corrections Canada and Canada Border Services personnel. Most of our students are dealing with operational stress injuries, such as PTSD, at varying levels of functioning.
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Is this "music therapy"? |
As music therapy is an accredited occupation in Canada, and we do not employ Certified Music Therapists in our program, we would like to refrain from using the term "music therapy". The environment and services we provide to our students, however, has proven that it has an overall therapeutic benefit both in the short term and the long term.
To learn more about music therapy we would like to direct you to the The Canadian Association of Music Therapists
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What is music instruction? How can it benefit me? |
Music instruction is a tool that our students use to help them navigate the troubled waters of the mind through the use of musical instruments and song. Learning to play music can be very engaging and requires a great deal of focus. It is this focus that we are trying to instill in our students to give them some relief when their symptoms threaten to overcome them. Music instruction also provides our students with a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment as they expand their musical skills. Music fully engages the mind and body allowing our students to find peace and expression of themselves in a positive form. Learning in a peer environment ,which we strive to provide, can make the learning process easier as well as instill a sense of community and comfort.
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I don't have a musical instrument; can I still get involved in instruction? |
Based on proper funding, our goal is to provide basic instruments (primarily guitar) to our students through donations of equipment or the cash flow required to rent instruments locally. We are currently looking at rent-to-own options for guitars and other instruments. As we start up we will provide guitars on a loaner basis. In the future, as our equipment base expands and funding becomes more abundant, we will be looking at the option for students to keep their guitars/instruments upon completion of the ten week basic curriculum.
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Can I get one-on-one instruction in my chosen instrument? |
In most cases we are able to facilitate one-on-one instruction for students that are not comfortable in a group setting or otherwise have challenges in leaving their homes but still want the healing power of music in their lives.
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How do I become a sponsor for this worthy, not-for-profit organization? |
You can become a sponsor of this program in a variety of ways, on the provincial and the national level. The first step is to contact us (follow Contact link above in the menu) to determine how your business can help by contributing to this program. We are responsible for maintaining our own funding through the generous donations made by our sponsors and the general public. Our overhead is considered to be reasonably low but we still need donations to supply our students with equipment and to facilitate the upkeep of our many chapters across Canada. We would love to hear from you and thank you for your consideration.
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