bread & roses
DESCRIPTION
A brochure for a San Francisco-based charity, Bread & Roses, created for a graduate class at the Academy of Art University.TRANSCRIPT
Bread & Roses HOPE & HEALING THROUGH LIVE MUSIC
Bread & Roses brings healing and hope through live music to hospitalized and rehabilitating patients of the San Francisco Bay Area. Our performances are meant to uplift people’s spirits during challenging times.
Table of Contents
Uplifting the mind & spirit 3
The healing power of live music 11
Bringing communities hope & healing 19
Get involved 24
4 BREAD & ROSES
Bread & Roses is dedicated to uplifting the human spirit by providing
free, live, quality performances to people who live in institutions or are
otherwise isolated from society. Our performances:
• Enrich the soul and promote wellness through the healing power
of the performing arts;
• Create a sense of community for our professional performers in
a non-commercial setting in which they can donate their talents
to inspire and be inspired by their audiences;
• Provide an opportunity for non-performing volunteers to contrib-
ute a variety of skills and resources that support our humanitarian
services and increase the impact of donor contributions.
Bread & Roses seeks to create a social awareness of people who are
isolated from society, and to encourage the development of similar
organizations in other communities. The audience members we serve
do not have the physical, emotional or financial capacity to attend
live performances. Their circumstances are such that if the live perfor-
mance does not come to them, they will not have access to it.
Through song and dance, Bread & Roses enhances basic care by giving
the healing gifts of love, human contact and support, inspiration and
hope. We understand the healing power of live music, and it is our mis-
sion to bring it to communities who need it most.
Uplifting the Mind & Spirit
Top Right Hospital patients listen to a
Bread & Roses hospital performance.
Bottom Right Lenny McFee plays guitar
for patients at Laguna Honda Hospital.
6 BREAD & ROSES
Changing Lives in the Bay Area
The name Bread & Roses is taken from a poem written in 1912 by James
Oppenheim on the occasion of a textile strike in Massachusetts at which
10,000 women and children marched against brutal working conditions.
Inspired by the poem, singer/songwriter Mimi Farina chose the phrase to
convey the spirit of the agency she founded in 1914. Mimi knew that live
performance has vital, life-affirming powers, and she dedicated her life to
building an organization and a community based on that insight. Her work
continues today, aided by hundreds of volunteers, thousands of donors,
caring celebrities, and the hearts she touched along the way.
Daily Performances
Virtually every day of the year, Bread & Roses shares hope and healing
through live music that we bring to our most isolated neighbors in the San
Francisco Bay Area. Our performances uplift the spirits of children bat-
tling cancer, teens battling substance abuse, families in homeless shelters,
seniors nearing the end of life transition, and others living apart from
friends and family while facing challenging times.
While there are others who visit Bay Area facilities with shows and acts
of compassion, there is no other organization that systematically brings
live entertainment to seniors, adults and children in need.
21
3
6
7
8
4
5
PERCENTAGE OF ANNUAL SHOWS IN EACH COUNTY
Sonoma = 1%
Napa = 1%
Marin = 40%
1 San Francisco = 29%
San Mateo = 5%
Contra Costa = 2%
2
3
4
5
6
Alameda = 21%
Santa Clara = 1%
7
8
COUNTIES SERVED IN THE BAY AREA
8 BREAD & ROSES
Above Marian Hubler, Volunteer Host
and Program Director, found Bread &
Roses through her love of music.
A VOLUNTEER’S STORY Finding Life’s Purpose
MIND & SPIRIT 9
MARIAN HUBLER, Program Director
About twenty years ago, I decided that I wasn’t happy with my corpo-
rate office job anymore. I spent all day going to and from a cubicle
doing work that I didn’t enjoy. There came a point when I realized that
I wanted my life to mean something more than what I was making it.
I had been a piano player for almost ten years at that point, and I really
wanted to find something that involved music. I initially volunteered
to become a host for their shows in the Bay area. I thought it would be
fun to do on the weekends and occasionally during the week. Not only
did I have the chance to connect with people in need, but I’d also be
able to watch outstanding local musicians perform on a regular basis.
The first show that I hosted was nothing short of an incredible exper-
ience. I watched a woman smile and break down into tears. It was
amazing to see the transformation of the audience before my eyes
during each show. I knew I had stumbled upon something special.
After several years volunteering for Bread & Roses, I decided to take
my passion full-time as their Program Director. I can honestly say
that I wake up every morning excited to go to work. It’s given my pur-
pose in life, and no longer do I feel that I’m letting life pass me by.
“Bread & Roses holds a special place in my heart. I volunteer
because of the power music has to open hearts and comfort minds.”
— Marian Hubler
10 BREAD & ROSES
The healing power of Live MusicThey are our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, mothers and
fathers, neighbors and friends. They live in senior convalescent homes,
mental health and AIDS facilities, special needs schools and hospitals.
They are found in shelters for the abused or homeless, drug and alcohol
rehabilitation centers and detention facilities. They often feel lost, alone
and abandoned.
But when Bread & Roses puts on a show, they come to life. They clap
their hands, tap their toes and move to the beat. Like flowers turning to
the sun, their eyes light up, they smile, and song along. Sometimes, they
even get up and dance. They leave feeling a little lighter, a little brighter.
For three decades now, Bread & Roses has been reaching out to people,
maybe people that you know, through song, dance, story and more. Our
performances bring a kind of simple healing, with benefits that medical
research now confirms. It is the healing that comes from letting people
know that they are not forgotten and not alone.
12 BREAD & ROSES
Music therapy is the use of music to promote hope and healing and
to enhance quality of life. The practice may be used to encourage emo-
tional expression, promote social interaction and relieve symptoms.
Music has been used in medicine for thousands of years. Ancient Greek
philosophers believed that music could heal both the body and the soul.
Native Americans have used singing as part of their healing rituals. The
more formal approach to music therapy began in World War II, when
hospitals used music therapy to help treat soldiers suffering from shell
shock and other injuries. Michigan State University soon established
the first music therapy degree in 1944.
Medical Benefits Music therapists may use active or passive methods, depending on the
patient’s needs and abilities. Music therapists work with a variety of
physica, emotional and psychological symptoms.
There is supporting evidence, when used with conventional treatment, that
music therapy can help reduce pain, heart rate, breathing rate and blood
pressure. Many medical experts also believe it can aid in healing, improve
physical movement, and enrich a patient’s quality of life. There are no
claims that music therapy can cure cancer, but it is often used in cancer
treatment to help reduce pain caused by chemotherapy.
We Believe in Music Therapy
32
1
2
3
HOW WE PROCESS MUSIC
Hearing Stage
A musical sound and peripheral
phenomenon is linked to the ear
and the auditory nerve.
Feeling Stage
Music is filtered through the thalamus,
relaying sensation, spacial sense and
motor signals to the cerebral cortex.
Listening Stage
Sound is intellectualized as it reaches
the temporal lobe centers, the nervous
system and related mental functions.
1
INSOMNIA Study participants reported a 30% reduction in abnormal sleeping patterns.
DEPRESSION Severity of symptoms in depression patients decreased 33% with music.
MIGRAINES Music induced deep relaxation in 46% of migraine patients.
ANXIETY Music therapy induced calming effects for 60% of women with severe anxiety.
STRESS Almost 60% of a study group noticed a dispersion of stress after music therapy.
PAIN Music helped reduce pain symptoms for 44% of patients after a minor surgery.
14 BREAD & ROSES
Studies in Music TherapyThe American Music Therapy Association recently conducted a series
of studies to further broaden our understanding of the effects that music
has on patients with varying conditions.
Study Results: Decreased Symptoms in Music Therapy Patients
The experiments confirmed a significant decrease in discomfort and
severity of symptoms amongst patients participating in the study group,
including insomnia, pain, stress, anxiety, migraines and depression.
INSOMNIAPAIN
STRESS
DEPRESSION
MIGRAINESANXIETY
LIVE MUSIC’S HEALING POWER 15
-44%
-59%
-60%
-46%
-33%
-30%
Left Vincent Caulfield plays his guitar
for Laguna Honda Hospital patients in
San Francisco.
A PERFORMER’S STORY Connecting a Community
“Thanks to Bread & Roses, I have experienced the healing that
takes place when performer and audience meet heart-to-heart.”
— Vincent Caulfield
LIVE MUSIC’S HEALING POWER 17
VINCENT CAULFIELD, Guitarist for the Gas Men Over the past ten years or so, playing music has become an increasingly
important part of my life. It has brought me closer to the people that I
care about, taught me how I want to live my life and gotten me through
tough times. Playing music for other people gives me perspective and
hope, and I always learn something from my audience whenever I get up
to perform with my band.
On St. Patrick’s Day, I arrived with my band, the Gas Men, at the Laguna
Honda Hospital with a festive green hat and and a variety of instruments.
Our band planned to play traditional Irish music for the hospital patients
to give them some holiday cheer as they recovered from surgery and
underwent rehabilitation.
After a friendly crowd settled in their seats, we began to play. Although
the audience was quiet at first, they seemed to perk up with every song.
A woman in the corner waved her hands in the air and closed her eyes
as she listened to the music. Hospital staff put their arms around the
patients they sat next to, and I could see both of them start to smile.
The show ended with loud clapping and cheering, and an audience that
seemed happier than when they initially walked in.
I found myself filled with emotion several moments during the show,
realizing that there was something special that was happening in this
room. That this was not just an hour of playing our instruments, but
an exchange of healing at its most simplistic level. I felt our music was
connecting a community as we shared something that we all loved.
TO SINGis to love and affirm, to coast into the hearts of the people that listen,
to tell them that beauty exists. — Joan Baez, American Folk Singer
20 BREAD & ROSES
Bread & Roses serves isolated individuals of all ages by bringing free,
live performances to the facilities in which they reside. These individuals
can be economically disadvantaged, physically or mentally disabled, in
recovery, or at risk.
In recent years, institutionalization has increased. For example, more
elders are cared for outside their homes, a greater number of men and
women are living with Alzheimer’s, and drug and alcohol addiction
continues to be a problem for all ages. Children are institutionalized for
an ever-broadening set of social problems, including concerns about their
physical safety, dire poverty, medical and/or educational neglect, mental
illness, and behavioral problems.
Among the many things confined individuals lack is access to the healing
power of the arts. Most of the individuals in our audiences have no oppor-
tunity other than through a Bread & Roses performance to experience the
unique, restorative sensation of being lifted beyond oneself
that is possible through the performing arts.
Bringing isoloated communities Hope & Healing
Top Right Clyde plays trumpet
for a Bread & Roses audience.
Bottom Right Drummers at an
outdoor Bread & Roses event.
22 BREAD & ROSES
600 Annual Live ShowsBread and Roses hosts approximately 600 live shows each
year in the San Francisco Bay area. Our performers play in
a variety of treatment centers, which are represented below.
5%
14%
12%
7%
7%
1%
CHILD DAY CAREREHAB CENTERSHIV SPECIAL NEEDS HOSPITALSDETENTION CENTERS
HOPE & HEALING 23
18%
14%
10%
7%
5%
ELDERLY CARE SENIOR DAY CARE MENTAL HEALTH HOMELESS DISABLED
24 BREAD & ROSES
Left Beth Larksdale listens to the
music at a Bread & Roses event at
her rehabilitation center.
A PARTICIPANT’S STORY Letting Go of the Pain
HOPE & HEALING 25
BETH LARKSDALE, Hospital Patient I feel lucky to say that I have lived a pretty good life. I found the love of
my life at age 20, and we were married for almost 40 years. I had one
beautiful daughter, traveled to many places and met some wonderful
friends along the way.
I met my husband at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, where we both
came to dance every Friday. I still remember the music as if it was
yesterday. Since then, music and dancing was always a central aspect
of our lives. When my husband passed away, and I developed acute
arthritis, I lost both my dancing partners and my dancing legs. It hasn’t
been easy, but I’ve always tried to maintain a positive spirit.
When Bread & Roses visited my rehabilitation hospital, I was so happy
to have a chance to listen to live music once again. It didn’t matter
what kind of music it was, I made sure I had a front row seat. Although
I wasn’t able to dance to the music like I used to with my husband, the
show made me forget about my recent misfortune. I was reminded
about all the beautiful and positive things that I have been fortunate
to have in my life. I closed my eyes, waved my hands in the air and
hummed to the music. I saw some people watching me, but I didn’t
care, I was happy for the first time in a long while.
“Bread & Roses brought me back to a positive
place in one of the most difficult periods of my life.
They reminded me that beauty still exists.”
— Beth Larksdale
26 BREAD & ROSES
There is a growing need for the healing Bread & Roses inspires. We need
your support and thank you for your generosity. There are many ways
you can get involved to support our mission of bringing hope and healing
through live music.
Visit www.breadandroses.org to learn more about any of the following:
Donate
We gratefully accept online donations through our secure donation server
on our website.
Volunteer
Volunteers are needed throughout the year for our daily shows, public
benefit events and to support our staff. We are looking for performers,
show hosts, and event and office volunteers.
Attend a Benefit Event
Bread & Roses produces public concerts and private events to raise
awareness about our mission and to support our program.
Send Us Your Stories
We are collecting stories from those whose lives have been touched by
Bread & Roses.
Get Involved
28 BREAD & ROSES
233 Tamalpais Drive, Corte Madera, CA 94925
T 415.945.7120 • F 415.945.7128 • www.breadandroses.org