August 29, 2024
To ensure a vibrant and healthy Colorado music community for generations to come, Colorado Music Hall of Fame (“The Hall”) has added a financial assistance program to its Keep The Beat mental wellness initiative. The Hall has designated $25,000 this year to a mini-grant fund to provide up to $1,000 per person for licensed counseling sessions for eligible Colorado musicians, industry professionals and gig workers.
To help make this program possible, Colorado Music Hall of Fame board co-chair Scott Tobias and his wife, Jane Tobias, made a major gift to the organization. “During the pandemic, it became clear that stakeholders in the music industry needed help beyond jobs during lockdown. They needed access to resources that could provide support for their mental health,” says Tobias. “The pandemic may have ended, but the stress that musicians and others in the industry face have not. These grants are designed to help provide some relief.”
In 2022, Colorado was ranked last of all U.S. states for access to care for adults suffering from mental health, substance abuse and suicidal ideation (State of Mental Health in America, 2022). Although that ranking improved to #38 last year, this statistic means that 55.5% of Colorado’s residents who report having mental illness remain unable to access treatment—most frequently due to lack of insurance coverage or the ability to pay.
With average hourly wages of Colorado musicians and singers ranging from as low as $13.71 to $34.69 (U.S. Bureau of Labor & Statistics, May 2023), many of these professionals are also gig workers—independent contractors who don’t receive employer benefits such as medical insurance.
Keep The Beat, The Hall’s mental wellness initiative, was developed to put renewed focus on today’s music community. By supporting the Colorado music industry with financial assistance and sharing other free and low-cost mental health and recovery resources, The Hall aims to de-stigmatize the issues of mental health and addiction within the music industry and ensure that this state continues to have a thriving music scene well into the future.
To be eligible for the Keep The Beat financial assistance program, you must be a Colorado resident who is a musician, music industry professional and/or gig worker, and have worked in the Colorado music industry for at least five years; are 21 years of age or older; uninsured or under-insured; and having difficulty paying for mental health and/or addiction counseling.
Applications can be found on The Hall’s website at www.cmhof.org/keep-the-beat/financial_assistance/ and will remain open until grant funds are depleted.
Awarded applicants will be referred to a case manager through The Hall’s nonprofit partner, Backline. Case managers will refer individuals to a licensed therapist within Backline’s national network that includes over 120 professionals in Colorado. Backline’s network consists primarily of mental health professionals who have experience with or connection to the music industry, as well as a deep understanding of the unique lifestyle of music touring. Nonprofit partner Sweet Relief Musicians Fund will manage the disbursements from The Hall’s mini-grant fund to the referred therapists as awarded applicants receive treatment.
About Colorado Music Hall of Fame (“The Hall”) www.cmhof.org: Founded in 2011, The Hall is a nonprofit with a mission to celebrate, promote and support Colorado’s music community:
- Celebrating Colorado music by inducting our state’s music heroes (over 50 to date), hosting music events, sharing music history and, coming soon, unveiling new Hall of Fame exhibits at a central location in downtown Denver;
- Promoting Colorado as a music destination; and
- Supporting local musicians and industry professionals with financial assistance and resources for mental health and addiction through its Keep The Beat mental wellness initiative.
About Backline backline.care: Backline is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that connects music industry professionals and their families with mental health and wellness resources. They understand the unique challenges that come with working in this industry, and offer referrals to quality care, providers, financial aid, and wellness services so music industry families can access the help they need to keep making the music happen. On September 13 & 14, 2024 in Denver at the Infinity Park Event Center, Backline will be hosting their 2nd annual clinical workshop, Harmony In Practice. This workshop is specifically designed for mental health and wellness providers, social workers and counselors at all levels of experience and licensure to gain a better working knowledge of how to clinically treat individuals within the music industry.
About Sweet Relief Musicians Fund www.sweetrelief.org: Sweet Relief provides assistance to all types of career musicians & music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. Music’s most precious resource — the artist — sometimes needs protection.
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