GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The four-year old music therapy program at Mary Free Bed continues to climb the scales with the number of people it is able to help. Now, thanks to a new grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the hospital will be able to bring those healing notes to even more patients. The grant, in the tune of $10,000, will enable Mary Free Bed to add a part-time music therapist to the staff.
“We’re so happy and honored that the National Endowment for the Arts values how music therapy can help our patients,” said Maria Besta, Mary Free Bed’s manager of the recreational therapy and Wheelchair and Adaptive Sports.
Currently, there is only one fulltime music therapist on the staff and they’ve been able to with hundreds of patients since 2018. However, many others have requested the magic of music to help them recover from serious injury or illness.
“Now we can help even more patients heal with music therapy as part of their rehabilitation,” Besta said.
The money was part of $1.7 million awarded to 168 organizations through the Challenge America grants.