This post is for the PMT Series featuring non-profit organizations.

At a community event honoring individuals with Rare & Undiagnosed Diseases earlier this year, we learned about an amazing non-profit that was started in Charlotte two years ago: Speed For Need, Inc. We were grateful to meet Kevin M. Young, Co-Founder & Executive Director of SFN and learn about the organization's impact areas. 

The mission of Speed For Need is to raise awareness and foster inclusion of those with special needs through participation in fitness events supported by the men of F3 Nation. F3 is a national network for met with a mission "to plant, grow and serve small workout groups fro men for the invigoration of male community leadership."

Speed For Need is receiving the first non-profit spotlight of the year because of the support they provide to so many people of various ages and diagnoses. Check out the online article by Charlotte Parent, February 2019 that features Speed For Need's Founder, Owen Farr's Father, Will Farr. 

​The respect, perseverance, and support provided through the events  is tremendous.  Photos from their races and rallies feature veterans, individuals with cancer and other disabilities that affect their physical mobility. We are proud to help in directing folks to this local beacon. Hopefully this post will benefit you or someone you know in the community that would like to safely participate in an event in one of the specially designed racing chairs while celebrating the journey of life with neighbors of all abilities. 

This post is part of the year long series Music Therapy Moments.

Let us help to put Georgia on your mind. Did you know that just across the border into Georgia... music therapists are licensed professionals? A profession that has state licensure adds another level of overview confirming the required number of hours of continuing education were met on a yearly basis. Additionally receiving services through a licensed professional may assist families in accessing treatment that insurance agencies will support. This also provides consumers or clients another method of ensuring qualified services are received and a local agency to contact with inquiries.

The Music Therapy Practice Act supports such an initiative in the Palmetto State.  S.472 and H.4150 were introduced earlier this year. To learn more about the pursuit of music therapy licensure in South Carolina, read the background through The Certification Board for Music Therapist's (CBMT) Website as this has been over a decade of advocacy accomplished by many music therapists, allied health professionals, clients and their families.

The bill is currently in SC Senate's Labor, Commerce, and Industry Committee. Constituents who would like to share their perspective on the Music Therapy Practice Act are encouraged to contact their representatives. PMT Clinic assisted client families with sample advocacy letters that were created by the SC Music Therapy Task Force through the Music Therapy Association of South Carolina. Please let your family's music therapist know if you did not receive an Advocacy Paper Kit from PMT March 15 - April 1, 2019.

Later this week the Southeastern Region of American Music Therapy Association (SERAMTA) is hosting its annual conference in Columbia, SC. These two happenings have an important similarity - they will both happen in the state's capital city! April 4th will mark the 2019 Music Therapy Hill Day and this hopes to be a promising opportunity to continue the advocacy work in person at the State House. Because of the regional conference's location there looks to be a large gathering of music therapists to represent on 4/4/19. The SERAMTA Conference unites music therapists practicing and music therapy students pursuing degrees from the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia,  Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands.

Our private practice encourages you to familiarize yourself with the bills (linked here by CBMT) in order to make an informed decision and share your opinion on the bill with your local representatives. Thanks for your support of this process. We hope that soon music therapists in South Carolina will be able to join one of their neighboring states with licensure protection and increased accessibility for clientele. And until then, may you enjoy Georgia on your mind.

Please share your questions or comments below!

The first community partner that we’ll highlight is St. John’s United Methodist Church Preschool located in Rock Hill, SC. SJUMC of Rock Hill offers a preschool ministry that includes a specially designed class for young children who have various diagnoses such as Down syndrome.
PMT provides music therapy group sessions led by a board certified clinician for the preschool students four times each month. They focus upon pre-academic concepts, communication skills and self-expression. Instruments and materials are brought into the classroom setting - this is described as mobile music therapy. Age appropriate interventions incorporating specific musical elements are used to optimize goals while adapting to students’ preferences and sensitivities. Documentation occurs so the therapist can track students’ progress over the preschool year. Here’s a sample of a past monthly newsletter distributed to client families:

Thanks for following this year’s new blog series on PMT Community Partners. PMT is honored to provide music therapy group services at SJUMC in Rock Hill, SC for several years. Encountering the dedicated teachers and staff, witnessing the children’s personalities and being a part of these kiddos’ earlychildhood is an honor for our private practice.

To learn more about the SJUMC Preschool Class for kiddos with special needs, contact Katie Goodwin at 803-985-5656 or Kgoodwin@stjohnsrh.org.

The series titled Non-Profit Network will feature organizations available to support fellow neighbors. These organizations have offerings that benefit our community members such as folks who are veterans, caregivers and individuals living with an illness or life altering diagnosis.

Another theme of posts this year will include music therapy truths and findings. The series titled Music Therapy Moments could vary from highlighted research findings to legislative updates for music therapy bills introduced into either North or South Carolina. Such legalization could increase music therapy accessibility through insurance reimbursement ans potentially schools as a related service under I.D.E.A.

Community Partner Feature is another wave of posts that will rotate through sites that collaborate with Piedmont Music Therapy, LLC for music therapy services, music instruction, classes or trainings.

We are committed to sharing resources and links to increase credible information in Greater Charlotte. We hope that you’ll find time to read posts in these series and share with others. Cheers to a healthy new year!

What's important for people? Being connected and supported. At Piedmont Music Therapy, LLC we often collaborate with other health and wellness professionals. We request consents to exchange information with our clients' care team members. We offer annual recitals featuring our studio musicians to provide live music through out the community settings in a way to allow the children and youth to meet elderly folks and share their musical skills.

PMT also strives to learn more about available outlets for relationship building in the communities whom we serve. With the New Year and coincidentally the weekend celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday we are excited to share an event that has been on our dream list for quite some time.

Next month we are partnering with NAMI-Charlotte to offer a FREE DRUM CIRCLE in the community. That's right... no strings attached. This dream was made more real with the encouragement of Dae-Lee when the amazingly energetic team at Creative Mornings -  Charlotte led by Matt Olin & Tim Miner  gave PMT a H.U.G. Micro Grant in November 2018. We are requesting RSVP's through EventBrite.com to help us prepare seating and enough instruments. You can also share this with your friends and social media networks on Facebook and Instagram.

PMT Staff will be on site to welcome folks and ensure people of all ages feel comfortable with the percussion instruments. Ear plugs will also be available. Providence United Methodist Church is sharing their Mission Center for the event as part of their generous outreach and commitment to NAMI Programs.  

We hope that you'll join the circle to create music while meeting new and old neighbors from Greater Charlotte. This free event hopes to further connect and support neighbors of all backgrounds. Questions or comments are welcomed below!

As this year winds down our private practice and studio reflect upon the highlights of 2018. We've experienced continue growth with regards to our service offerings and community partners. 

PMT learned about the following discovery through a client's family. We became an approved vendor through NCSEAA and as a result yielded another outlet for families to access music therapy services in Charlotte, NC!

• North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority - Disability Grant Program has open enrollment in February 2019 for the 2019-20 school year. Please share this opportunity with privately or homeschooled children that are residents of NC and may be eligible to qualify.

Our team of passionate music therapists has continued to grow with our newest team member, Miriam Tart from Charlotte, NC joining us this month. She'll be practicing on Mondays & Thursdays at our clinic in 2019 and we're grateful for her presence.

Becoming an Approved Provider for Certification Board For Music Therapists has been an accomplishment in offering seven trainings through out 2018. These live and online courses were convenient for Charlotteeans and we welcomed attendees from all over the Carolinas. Stay tuned for new and returning course offerings to continue education next year. 

Our clinical staff has experienced another year of conversations and inquiries about music therapy treatment and efficacy. With the countdown to 2019, our team is eager for the next legislative cycle to hopefully receive support for the passing of music therapy licensure in the Carolinas. Here is a linked map to State Task Forces across our country. You may also more through a recent article that included responses by PMT Director/Owner, Gretchen Benner:

• Music Therapy Relatively New to North Carolinas Lacks Licensing Laws from Daily Tar Heel - Journalist Karen Stahl, November 2018

Also to help clarify, music therapy has been a path of college study since 1944. Here's the historical background on music therapy stemming from working with veterans from World War II. Closest training programs to PMT include Converse College - Spartanburg, SC, Charleston Southern University - Charleston, SC, Queens University of Charlotte - Charlotte, NC, and Appalachian State University - Boone, NC.

We are honored to recognize our longstanding partnerships of 3 years of weekly services provided by Ashley Tisdale, MT-BC at Charlotte Rescue Mission - Dove's Nest in Charlotte, NC, almost 4 years at St. John's United Methodist Church Preschool Special Setting Class in Rock Hill, SC led by Gretchen Benner, LMSW, MT-BC, Perrin Jones, MT-BC and currently Melissa Reinhardt, MSEd, MT-BC, plus five summers of music therapy groups incorporated at Camp Boomerang - an inclusion based summer camp through Brace Family YMCA in Matthews, NC facilitated by Gretchen Benner, LMSW, MT-BC, Gabby Ritter, MMT, MT-BC and Melissa Reinhardt, MSEd, MT-BC.

PMT partners as an off-campus clinical training opportunity for undergraduate or equivalency music therapy college students. Our clinicians appreciate the many students who completed course work under their supervision and grew in their understanding from the direct practice work with our clients. As well as the several high school students who interviewed our staff through the year and the volunteers that shared many hours supporting our practice behind the scenes. 

As we conclude our list of brief highlights from 2018, we share a special note commemorating all of the clients, students and their families who have allowed our staff to play a small role in their lives. We are grateful for this year of connections and all of the cherished memories that we have witnessed through our combined years of treatment and music instruction.

Wishing you a safe and healthy start to the New Year. Please feel welcomed to share a highlight that is connected to PMT Clinic & Studio in a comment below:

Good morning!
Thanks to all who attended the presentation given by Melissa Reinhardt, MSEd, MT-BC at this morning's Olde English Consortium School Counselors Conference hosted at Chesterfield High School. On behalf of our current and potential clients, thank you for advocating for your students. The slideshow is available below. Please let us know if you have further questions!

Our team of music therapists has a full season of community events planned this Fall 2018. PMT will have a booth at Art on Tap, Senior Expo and Baxter Fall Festival. Visit our tent to enter free giveaways and make music with provided instruments. The Scarecrow Crawl will be our second year participating. It's a great way to help reduce the stigma to treatment and health services, plus allow our creativity to make a music based craft. The final planned community event will be the annual Fall Studio Recital which is a festive occasion to celebrate the musical pursuits of our individual students.

Our newest school partnership is with Philips Academy of Charlotte, NC. Their mission: to provide students with the academic, occupational and social skills needed to be self-reliant, confident and contributing members of their communities.
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We feel that the weekly music therapy group sessions offered for some of the students will be a great support to their social skill based goals through the fall semester.

​Plus we're continuing to welcome undergraduate students from Queens University of Charlotte who are working on their bachelor degree in music therapy. One of the practicum students will be attending off-campus practicum with Melissa Reinhardt, MSEd, MT-BC at Philips Academy. 

Our staff of board certified music therapists work with clients and students in our suite off Westinghouse Blvd. plus meeting clients out in the community... from Matthews, NC south to Rock Hill, SC. ​ Learn about other community partnerships on our Partner Page!

One of our music therapists will return at South County Regional Library tomorrow morning for the monthly music class! We celebrated one year of partnering with kiddos and their families in the Down syndrome community this summer.
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Curious about more details? Contact us or check the sponsoring non-profit: Down Syndrome Association of Greater Charlotte! Plus DSA-GC just received new leadership with Holly Zipperer as Executive Director. You can check out her reordered address to the Town Hall Meeting on their Facebook Page!
#charlottenc #community #nonprofit #faceuptodown #Downsyndrome #allages