[Click here for a Noozhawk photo gallery from the event.]
Who: CALM at Heart, Healing Through Music
What: Benefit for Child Abuse Listening Mediation
Where: Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club
When: Saturday, Nov. 16
Every year CALM devises unique and interactive events to get supporters involved in the spirit of CALM at Heart, and Saturday evening the Healing Through Music fundraiser held at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club was no exception.
A previous CALM at Heart, Healing Through Art event gathered attendees together to discover their inner artist with creative painting activities, complete with canvases and brushes. This time guests were asked to find their inner musician with the help of a group of artists, The Figureheads.
The crowd was asked to participate in song with people writing words, thoughts or phrases that were woven into the raps and lyrics of the performers, ending the night with a song written specifically for CALM.
Guests swayed and waved their hands while twisting around and dancing as the spirit moved them. The band had hoped to evoke memories of what it was like to be a kid again; based on what was on full display, the mood was captured perfectly.
The Figureheads are an award-winning musical act and nonprofit organization that works with youth from pre-kindergarten through high school, using positive hip-hop music for collaboration and the development of literacy. Since 2005, the Milwaukee-based group has performed all over the nation at more than 300 venues representing more than 100,000 people.
The three members of the group — Jeremy Bryan, with a bachelor’s degree in English; Greg Marshall, a degree in English language and linguistics; and Dave Olson, a degree in psychology and anthropology — have been commissioned to write music for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, among others.
Interactivity was also featured at the event, with a unique option for supporters to text an amount for contributions via smart phone during an auction as live, onscreen thermometer graphics displayed the growing totals of support. Auctioneer Benjamin Ladinig generated a strong buzz in the room for bids on music-themed items, including a Sonos sound system and Blu-ray Disc player and Wurlitzer replica jukebox.
Libations and different food stations also added to the magic of the night, with delectable sliders, pizza and mac-and-cheese — any kid’s favorite.
Local nurse-turned-abuse advocate Claire Miles, who decided to take action against child abuse when she learned that an overworked and distressed father had shaken his infant son to death, established CALM in 1969. She formed a parent help line in her home and placed ads in the local newspaper to reach out to stressed parents in an effort to stop impending child abuse and protect at-risk children in the community.
Today, with the support of volunteers, board members, professional staff and auxiliary members, CALM has evolved into a full-fledged clinical service center.
CALM now provides a multiplicity of bilingual English and Spanish programs offered on a sliding fee scale; no one is turned away due to an inability to pay.
The agency’s diverse community-based programs include the Child Abuse Assessment and Treatment Program that provides individual, family and group therapy to victims affected by abuse, as well Family Violence Counseling services that are offered to youths who have witnessed domestic violence. Another service is the school-based prevention program that offers a series of child abuse prevention presentations to children within the Santa Barbara County school system, teaching methods to be safe from abduction, negative effects from cyber-bullying and Internet safety.
— Noozhawk iSociety columnist Melissa Walker can be reached at mwalker@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkSociety, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.
