Prime Together Foundation grant provides music therapy, joy 

Earlier this year, the Prime Together Foundation awarded Living Well Disability Services a grant. Living Well transforms the lives of people impacted by disabilities through the delivery of exceptional services, including residential support, wellness programming and more. 

Angie and Justine call a Living Well-supported residence in the Twin Cities home.  

They each live a full life that includes a myriad of activities in the community, from art classes to Special Olympics. But one thing that always brings them together is music therapy. 

Every other week, Living Well brings in Morgan Welch, a certified music therapist, to Angie and Justine’s home. A grant from the Prime Together Foundation makes therapeutic activities like this possible. 

“Grants like the one from the Prime Together Foundation allow us to give care beyond the basics,” says Heather Heier, communications and events manager at Living Well Disability Services. “We can’t do that on our own.”  

Ninety-six percent of Living Well’s funding comes from government support. While that provides the basics, it doesn’t cover the extras that make life enjoyable, such as music therapy. According to the Cleveland Clinic, music therapy has a variety of clinically proven benefits, including: 

• Lowered blood pressure 
• Improved memory 
• Enhanced communication and social skills  

• Reduced muscle tension 
• Healthy coping skills  
• Increased motivation 
• Pain management 
• Increased joy 

“When you see Justine and Angie when they were in the (music therapy) class, it’s joyfulness. Who doesn’t want to have joy in their lives? I think everyone deserves a little bit of that,” Heier says. 

Living Well Disability Services is one of the Prime Together Foundation’s 2022 grant recipients. Learn more about the Prime Together Foundation and its work to help nonprofit organizations combat inequalities and injustice.