FIM Receives More Than $140,000 In Grants For Music Therapy Programs For Flint-Area Youth

FIM recently received two grants to help fund its Arts-Informed Therapy (AIT) for Systems-Impacted Youth Program. The money will expand the organization's board-certified music therapy program to work with youth in the juvenile justice system and those aging out of foster care. 

 

The Community Foundation of Greater Flint and the Michigan Health Endowment Fund awarded FIM $50,000 and $91,547, respectively, for a total of $141,547. The dollars were received from the Flint Kids Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and the Michigan Health Endowment Fund's behavioral health and nutrition and healthy lifestyles initiatives. This was the first time FIM has received a grant from the Health Fund. 

 

The AIT program will serve systems-impacted youth – mostly those involved in the juvenile justice system and foster and adopted youth – by utilizing expressive arts therapies such as music, dance and drama alongside family therapy to improve emotional expression, coping skills and social behaviors. These youth experience significant and unique risks to mental health and well-being during and following the transition to young adulthood, according to FIM Music Therapy Department Chair Janelle Ballard.  

 

“Youth served by the child welfare and juvenile justice system are five times more likely to have problem behaviors and poor psychosocial functioning compared to the general population. For Flint youth, this fact is compounded in the wake of the Water Crisis, as youth exposed to lead also have an increased risk of emotional and behavioral issues.” 

 

Systems-impacted youth often experience complicated and serious medical, mental health and  developmental problems rooted in their history of childhood trauma and neglect. The absence of critical protective factors – such as coping skills and forming meaningful relationships – can also mean that these youth face increased risk of (continued) criminality, homelessness, cyclical poverty and substance abuse, Ballard explained. 

 

“We're incredibly thankful to both the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and the Michigan Health Endowment Fund for their generous support,” she shared. “While our work is a big undertaking, the impact it makes is even bigger.” 

 

The Michigan Health Endowment Fund is a philanthropic foundation that works to improve the health and wellness of Michigan residents while reducing healthcare costs. The Community Foundation of Greater Flint partners and leads by influencing and connecting generosity to Flint and Genesee County needs. The Community Foundation helps donors support the causes they care about, today or through their estates. The Community Foundation serves Flint and all of Genesee County including its community funds in Clio, Davison, Fenton, Flushing and Grand Blanc. Its supporting organization, the Foundation for Flint, stewards the Flint Kids Fund in response to the Flint Water Crisis. Learn more at www.cfgf.org.

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