A COVID-19 Update from HAAM
Dear Friend of HAAM,
Times are tough right now. I don’t know about you, but I have been immersing myself in music. I have enjoyed watching livestream music shows, but I have also been blasting some of my favorite old school, outlaw country music because it just helps me feel grounded.
So much has happened and still is happening that I almost don’t know where to start. Beginning with the cancellation of SXSW on March 6, we knew our music community would be in trouble. But throughout the following weeks and now months of quarantine, social distancing and basically no live music events at all has devastated Austin musicians. As a friend of HAAM I know that you are already aware of the fragile ecosystem that our musicians live in, and the important role that we play in keeping these musicians safe and healthy. Now more than ever HAAM’s mission is imperative.
Within days of the SXSW cancellation, HAAM began receiving desperate calls from musicians. These calls all had the same theme – enormous medical and financial burdens that seemed impossible. Much like an endangered species, it does not take much to devastate the life of a musician.
By March 16, HAAM realized that musicians needed help immediately. One musician emailed me saying, “Everyone is telling us to go out and buy two weeks of quarantine supplies. All my gigs are cancelled for who knows how long and I don’t have enough money to buy two DAYS of groceries, much less stock up on extras.” Despite the fact that we knew we were going to face challenges as well, we knew musicians needed help. And they needed it immediately. The HAAM Board approved a reallocation of funds that allowed us to quickly send basic needs resources to our members who needed help the most.
Then an amazing thing happened. Many of our friends and donors sent in even more funding to help with COVID-related basic needs for musicians! Once again it was clear that Austin loves our musicians. Yet even with all these generous gifts and benefits, HAAM still faces a substantial financial shortfall that could drastically affect how we offer services to musicians, beginning as early as October.
Here are just a few things HAAM has experienced over the past few months:
Within 4 days of SXSW cancellation, HAAM began a basic needs program using HEB Gift Cards to distribute immediately to musicians in need of food or prescription drugs. To date we have given out more than $31,200 in HEB Gift Cards.
We set aside funds to help ensure that musicians could stay insured during this time of financial uncertainty and made the decision to cut budgets and not fill open positions so that this funding could go toward our Premium Assistance Program to help musicians afford access to care.
Our team created new systems and roles to respond to the 100% increase in health navigation and crisis calls from musicians.
HAAM began talks with other nonprofit agencies to see how we might collaborate and combine forces to help musicians.
We joined forces with other music nonprofits to ask the City to make some of the CARES Act funds available directly to musicians.
We applied for grants. And more grants and even more grants. We are turning over every stone to try and replace our estimated $1 million loss from the cancellation of fundraising events.
We've estimated that as many as 50% of our HAAM members will lose funding if we cannot find a way to fund this shortfall for 2021 insurance, which begins in October.
Thank you for your continued support of HAAM and I'd like to leave you with these two songs: The first is by one of my oldest and dearest friends, Philip Sandifer, that he wrote in honor of his daughters working on the front lines in healthcare. The second you may have already seen, but every time I watch this I am profoundly moved to challenge myself to be a force of positive change. This song by 12-year-old Keedron Bryant is just heart stopping.
Stay Safe and Healthy,
Reenie Collins
Chief Executive Officer, HAAM