My Nonprofit Reviews
dosojitas
Review for MusicLink Foundation, Arlington, VA, USA
A year and a half ago I was desperately in search of HELP! I had taken in 3 young relatives only to discover that each one had unique social/developmental issues, and together their issues were compounded as they bounced off each other. Trying to manage them was like trying to organize a sit down dinner on Noah's Ark. Someone familiar with the chaos in our home gave me the contact number for this group. The MusicLink Foundation and the volunteer teachers who gave us lessons have worked a miracle in our lives! Although the children are still a handfull they have developed a level of discipline I never thought I'd see as they compete to show off who can play more of their songs with the fewest errors. Truly music has "..soothed the savage breast." As an added bonus, learning to play an instrument has raised their standing among their classmates at school and given them more confidence in their ability to learn anything else. And recently, when my own son's cello was broken (a loss I sadly could not afford to replace) they came through in the most unexpected and wonderful way for him. Life isn't always fair, but people like this who give of their time and talents to help improve children's experience are a gift. I only hope that someday I will be in a position to contribute toward the continuation of their good works.
More Feedback
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
the way my children can now focus on a task, learn to work through mistakes, and follow through on a plan.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
lobby for teacher's 'free' lessons to be tax credit eligible.
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
the caring and persistant follow through of both the program administrator and the teachers.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
wonderful..supportive..dedicated.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
change the lives of so many at-risk kids, like mine. Without an experience like these lessons my kids would see themselves in gangs and running the streets. Now they see themselves in orchestras and leadership roles. Their self expectations have changed.
Ways to make it better...
These folks did EVERYTHING to accommodate my harried, single parent, single wage earner, overscheduled life. THEY made the lessons work. I could not have asked for anything more.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
lack of funding. If only people could understand the effect of children seeing themselves in a different light and project into those children's futures..we COULD change the world one child at a time
One thing I'd also say is that...
this Foundation could use more publicity! I don't know how long it has been in this state but I'd never heard of it.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2008
