THE Music Sanctuary Project
A project of Guitars Not Guns
About MSP Get Involved Make a Donation Contact Us
About the Music Sanctuary Project
The Music Sanctuary Project (MSP) provides guitar and piano lessons to youth detained by Homeland Security and housed at a detention facility near Walnut Creek, CA.
The youth:
The students of MSP are exceptionally courageous youth at a pivotal moment in their lives. They are all teenagers who came to this country unaccompanied by their parents. Many of the youth are fleeing violence and abuse in their home countries or are victims of elaborate human trafficking schemes. Most youth were taken into custody by U.S. Homeland Security at the border or airport and are sent to detention centers around the country. The youth sometimes wait at the facility for over a year while they go through removal proceedings or apply for asylum.
The music program:
MSP volunteers provide weekly music lessons
in Chinese, Spanish, and
English.
During the first year of lessons MSP provided a total of 490 music lessons to 55
youth from China, India, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Ecuador.
MSP was established in August of 2006, when a 17-year-old at the detention
facility told his lawyer that he has always wanted to learn guitar. He was
grieving the recent suicide of his mother, and feared deportation to Central
America where he fled his father's severe physical and emotional abuse, pressure
of gang involvement, and extreme poverty. Realizing that learning to play
guitar could mean a great deal for this youth, volunteers from Legal Services
for Children fundraised and recruited music teachers to start a music program.
In
January of 2007, MSP became a program of Guitars Not Guns
(www.guitarsnotguns.org),
a national non-profit organization that provides guitars and lessons to foster
children, youth at risk, and other deserving children.
When possible, MSP gives free instruments to youth who leave the facility to live with relatives or in foster homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. MSP also helps to link youth to individuals in the community who can give them free individual music lessons.
Music Teachers:
We are looking for volunteers to help teach guitar and piano. This is an excellent way to share the joy of music, and spend time with some endearing youth. No teaching experience necessary - just enough knowledge of guitar or piano to teach beginners. Ability to speak Spanish or Mandarin is a plus, but not necessary. Mainly we are looking for people with a warm character and interest in getting to know some amazing youth.
Teachers work with individual students or small groups of 2-4. We currently teach on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 7:00, but time and days are flexible depending on teacher schedules. If transportation is a barrier, you could join our carpool from Berkeley.
We are also looking for
volunteers throughout the Bay Area who would be interested in teaching
individual lessons to youth who get placed with relatives or in foster homes in
the area.
Donations of money and musical instruments are tax deductible. MSP is a program of Guitars Not Guns, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Please send donations to the address below; make checks to "Guitars Not Guns" and write "Music Sanctuary Project" in the check memo. If you would like to donate an instrument and need us to pick it up from you, please email Janelle Orsi at info@musicsanctuaryproject.org.
Needs:
Guitars (we accept all types of guitars, but especially like 3/4-sized guitars such as Baby Taylors)
Electric keyboards
Related equipment such as guitar tuners, music stands, guitar and keyboard cases, guitar strings, picks, and straps.
Money: donated funds help us to purchase instruments and teaching materials, and plan special musical events for the youth.
Music Sanctuary Project
c/o Guitars Not Guns
4 Avis Court
Orinda, CA 94563
info@musicsanctuaryproject.org