Heart & Soul Free Clinic
What happens when local musicians use their time and talent to help their neighbors get the healthcare they need? Local musicians. A local business. A local clinic. One very good reason to put your Heart & Soul into it.
Putting Your Heart & Soul Into It
“Sometimes Music Is the Only Medicine the Heart and Soul Need” — Tiny Buddha
A few weeks back, on a warm Saturday that couldn’t decide if it wanted to water the lawn, or just tease music venues across the city with its puffy gray clouds, I happened across an all-day music event at the Local Eatery & Pub in Westfield.
It was the Mission Hills Charity Jam in support of Heart & Soul Free Clinic.
They had a tent…
To confess…I was there to check a band off my list — one that had been on my radar to see, just hadn’t happened yet — and see one of my favorite local bands.
Check, and check…
So, sitting in the back row in a folding chair, minding my own business, trying to be inconspicuous…a woman approached me and asked, “Hi, who are you here with?”
Uh…doing the obligatory, head-on-swivel look-around…
Just me.
That inviting salutation was Lisa Kreag, Executive Director of Heart & Soul Free Clinic.
Like I said, I was there to see a couple of bands, get a few photos and move to my next venue.
What I learned in my conversation with Lisa is that I had inadvertently stumbled into a fundraiser for Heart & Soul Free Clinic that had been arranged by the Mission Hills Band.
So…that explains the fancy white tablecloths and silent auction.
What I learned was that all the bands playing…were playing to raise funds for Heart & Soul.
What I learned was that Heart & Soul Free Clinic is an organization committed to providing healthcare to their uninsured and underinsured neighbors in Central Indiana.
Compassion meets Compassion meets Compassion…
Local musicians donating their time to help raise funds, a local business providing the space to make it happen, and a local organization serving those in need of healthcare.
The need…
The uninsured rate in Indiana is 7.5% of the population.
That’s no insurance…at all.
But Kreag painted the bigger picture…
“The people whom Heart and Soul Free Clinic typically serves are those individuals who are considered asset-limited, income-constrained, income-constrained but…are employed.”
These are our neighbors.
Kreag went on, “The types of jobs that our patients may have are servers, landscapers, hairdressers, babysitters, construction workers, musicians, or ministers.”
Yes, musicians…
As Rodney Seaman, one of the primary organizers and a member of the Mission Hills Band, said, “Having played with many professional musicians over the last 15 years, I've seen how addiction plays a large role in artists' lives and lost several friends to it, so I always wanted to find a way to give back.”
For Bethany Rhodes, this sentiment is personal.
“Heart & Soul is for anyone that is uninsured or underinsured, but one of the big things they do is help get addicts into rehab and then mental health services afterwards. I'm a recovering alcoholic who was fortunate enough to have Medicaid when I needed inpatient treatment and therapies afterward, so it's close to my heart.”
She went on to say…
“When Rodney asked me to do it, he had no idea what I had been through, so I shared with him and he told me he's lost several friends to addiction. I'll never forget that conversation and I'll never miss a chance to help out Heart & Soul.”
That sentiment appears to be universal.
Chris Trowbridge of The Trouble with Trowbridge said, “We all love and support Rodney, so our immediate instinct is to want to be a part of anything he's asking us to help with.”
Trowbridge went on to say…
“First is that any event designed to help people, especially when it comes to either health care or education, is easily worth the time. Add on top of that I'm being asked to help by doing what I already love to do makes it an easy ‘yes.’”
The easy yes is directly related to Heart & Soul Free Clinic’s mission to serve the unserved and underserved.
Again, Executive Director Lisa Kreag, speaking on what Heart & Soul does…
“Heart and Soul Free Clinic is truly a community-supported clinic. We provide quality healthcare at no cost to the patient, and we can’t do that without people who believe that healthcare should be accessible.”
Putting their heart and soul into it…
“When the musicians donate their time and talent (some year after year), they are doing more than providing entertainment; they are investing in our mission and the people we serve. These types of events take so much community support, and having the bands show up because they believe in our mission is so important. The money raised goes directly to the clinic and to taking care of the health of our patients.”
After Rodney talked for a while with his neighbor Geoff Hicks, a plot was hatched for such an event.
Because David Harding, the owner of the Local Eatery & Pub, has been instrumental in letting Rodney handle all of his music bookings, he had access to some of the best musicians in the Indianapolis area.
And, “all the bands agreed to donate their time, playing 45-minute sets.”
Win-win…
For the musicians, Chris Trowbridge said, “There is definitely a boost to the music community any time one of these events brings a group of my friends together to perform.”
For Heart & Soul, Kreag’s sentiment:
“The patients keep me coming back. I know the work we do at the clinic can change someone’s life. It might not be a dramatic change, but it's the respectful care provided and helping someone get their blood pressure under control or managing their diabetes. I love seeing it all come together to help people access healthcare.”
How you can help…
First, support the musicians who are supporting Heart & Soul.
Go see a show. Bands are tagged in the comments.
But most importantly, support Heart & Soul Free Clinic directly.
Donate. Volunteer your time or professional skills. Attend a fundraising event.
And perhaps most importantly…tell somebody about Heart & Soul.
Because somewhere in Central Indiana, there is someone who needs the care they provide — and may not know that this community-supported clinic exists.
The season of giving is right around the corner.
Put a little heart and soul into it.
Go to the Heart & Soul website and find out how you can give your time, talent, or treasure