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The Tacy Foundation empowers children and teens to share hope and joy with hospital patients, military veterans, senior citizens, and disadvantaged youth through performances, music recording projects, and music mentoring programs.
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Director’s Corner:
Dear Volunteers and Supporters,
Your contributions of time and talent this year have been so much appreciated by seniors, hospital staff and patients, first responders’ children and families, United Way and Red Cross responders of Hurricane Helene, families of the Apalachee High School tragedy, residents of Fisher Houses, and young students in Piano Pals and Guitar Pals. I want to encourage you to continue your enthusiastic community work with the many projects offered by the Foundation during the next year. These projects have been pre-approved for Student Service Learning Credit by Montgomery County Public Schools. The SSL hours are also honored in Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia and in Frederick, Howard, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties, Maryland.
I am confident that you will find even more ways to serve. At this time of upheaval and uncertainty, it seems that everything around us and throughout the world has changed. Your helping hands, compassionate hearts, and generosity bring tremendous reassurance to many people. Helping others also strengthens us all and brings us joy to know that we have touched others’ lives.
Together, we will continue to bring hope into the world wherever and whenever we are able.
Working together with you and your family is a very great honor. Thank you for the privilege again this new year of continuing on the path of hope and healing.
All best wishes for an outstanding 2025!
Sincerely,
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Charlotte Holliday, Founder and Executive Director
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The Tacy Foundation and the Housing Opportunities Commission
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On Thursday evening, November 21st, there was a special event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) and the 25th Anniversary of the Housing Opportunities Community Partners (HOCP). Tacy Foundation President Richard Pedersen and I represented the Tacy Foundation at this celebration. United States Senator Chris Van Hollen spoke of the most inspiring history and present impact nationwide that HOC has inspired. U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin and many other Montgomery County officials attended.
The Foundation has supported the Montgomery County HOC with our Piano Pals programs (for children) at Tanglewood Apartments and Waverly Place Senior Living (for seniors). We have been asked to expand the program for children to Stewartstown Homes, a HOC Housing community in Gaithersburg.
The Foundation has received awards from HOC for our work at Tanglewood Apartments and Discovery in Bethesda for Piano Pals. Piano Pals for seniors has continued at Waverly House HOC. Pre-COVID, we facilitated teens offering free piano lessons for seniors at Waverly, Forest Oak Towers in Gaithersburg, and the Town Center in Rockville. We have also offered youth the opportunity to bring Live Music for Seniors to the Rockville Town Center, Forest Oak Towers in Gaithersburg, Waverly House in Bethesda, and Arcola Towers in Silver Spring.
HOC Piano Pals continues at Tanglewood. Charlotte Green, Mia Shujath, Olivia McGraw, Olivia Dziasek, Leo Peko, and Chin Yee Hou volunteer Saturday mornings each week to train their students. These mentors give their generous donations of time throughout their senior year. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us at thetacyfoundation@gmail.com.
Richard Pedersen, President of the Foundation and I consider the Foundation’s affiliation with HOC and participation in this HOC event to be a great honor. Ever since a simple request years ago from the Forest Oak Towers Resident Counselor to bring music for seniors, we have continued to share our programs with this excellent organization.
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My Journey with The Tacy Foundation
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Going into my senior year of high school at Richard Montgomery, I can’t help but reflect on my journey thus far. Serving as Chief Intern at Brown Station Elementary School for the Tacy Foundation’s Piano Pals has profoundly shaped my understanding of mentorship and service. After serving this wonderful foundation for six years, I now lead a team of 12 talented mentors, and together we are able to inspire hope, note by note.
On the journey to becoming and serving as a mentor and then a Chief Intern, I have learned the values of empathy, patience, and dedication. I will be forever grateful to Ms. Holliday and her incredible foundation for the many opportunities and lessons I have learned. Music has always been a guiding light in my life, so when I was given the chance to spread my love for music to others, I knew what I had to do.
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Surren Entiaznoori, Tiger Wu, Judy Liu, Ariana Hedayat, Hanna Ryoo, Valerie Tsang, Sophia Liu,
Vishagan Aranganathan, Serena Ceng, Charisse Fung, and Adi Strope
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I began my journey with this foundation back in 6th grade, starting as a mentor and slowly learning the ropes. After two years of tirelessly giving my all for the children, I had the opportunity to move up the ranks to become a Chief Intern. As a mentor, I delivered individualized lessons to students and nurtured their musical progression and emotional well-being. In this new role, I managed schedules, planned the curriculum, and oversaw recitals. All of these important tasks required a great deal of organization, sacrifice, and creativity from not just me and from the other mentors as well. During COVID-19, I hosted a virtual training class for Piano Pals mentors. Those weekly classes enabled new and experienced mentors to develop teaching skills and gain a deeper understanding of our lesson books.
Throughout all of these ups and downs, as Chief Intern I have mentored 20 interns in the last three years. This has shown me firsthand not only how music can inspire people to come together, but also the joy it brings to the people around us. As I serve my final year as Chief Intern, I am lucky enough to have a completely new team of mentors, who I hope will continue to share the same love I have for this program.
This love has pushed me even more to help these students explore their musical talents and foster the passion for music that I have developed from being involved in this program. I have been working with other music enthusiasts who share a passion for teaching and hold a sense of community to help these younger students become enlightened about the wonders of music. There aren't enough words to describe the experiences I've had that have shaped my life, and I want to share all of these musical endeavors with these younger students. I am excited to see what the future holds for this foundation and the kids I have taught.
It has been incredibly rewarding for me to know that I am helping children to develop new skills, to express themselves creatively, and to experience the joy that comes with learning how to play a musical instrument. I know that the skills and lessons children learn through our work at Piano Pals will have a lasting impact on their lives. By instilling a love for music and providing kids with a strong foundation in piano playing, I hope to empower children to pursue their aspirations well into the future.
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Marie Riordan Kaplan, NIH Patient Librarian
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Below are currently scheduled dates the Tiny Twilight Concert Series at 7:30 pm on the 7th floor, just outside the patient library and chapel. Additional dates may be added.
January 7, 2025
January 28, 2025
February 11, 2025
February 25, 2025
Performers at these concerts are student musicians from the Tacy Foundation. Below is a link to a short article on this musical series in the Clinical Center News! Thank you for all you do to make this endeavor possible!
https://www.cc.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2024/sep-oct/newsletterstory-05
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The Foundation and the World Loses a Friend
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A supporter of the Tacy Foundation since its incorporation, Evan Haning followed its growth with great interest. He watched youth grow up strong in community service. He has read every newsletter and donated funds for projects. His family members also remained interested through the years.
The Haning family are my neighbors and friends. We go back 30 years since my husband and I found Metz Drive and moved into a busy Germantown neighborhood of young families.
Evan sustained a vibrant radio broadcasting career in the nation’s capital on WTOP radio. He passed away on November 17th, and we will miss him so much.
Kindly keep the Hanings in your thoughts as they honor Evan and celebrate his amazing life.
Read his beautiful story from WTOP:
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Spreading Delight with Tacy Foundation Cards
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Karina Willis-Lara, Adult Supervisor - Tacy Foundation
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On October 13, the Cards Team finished our annual Thinking of You cards for seniors with an autumn theme. To all Tacy Foundation volunteers who participated, a sincere thank you for preparing such kind messages and unique cards for our seniors. The cards let the seniors know that we are thinking of them and brought true joy to recipients by letting them know that they are not alone. The cards were distributed to various senior communities in Maryland and Virginia.
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Autumn Card Photos (Iris and Nathan)
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Sterling Care Rockville Nursing
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Pre-printed holiday cards
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Right now, our annual holiday cards project is under way with a due date of December 7. The Cards Team is collecting handmade and pre-printed holiday cards to be mailed or delivered to various facilities. Medical facilities include Holy Cross hospitals in Silver Spring and Germantown, Frederick Memorial Hospital, Shady Grove Aquilino Cancer Center in Rockville, Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, NIH Clinical Research Center, and Fisher Houses at Walter Reed National. Military facilities include Andrews Air Force Joint Base, Quantico Marine Base and West Point. We will also provide cards to other local subsidized housing communities and of course to local senior communities. You can request guidelines and pre-printed cards to pick up and write thoughtful messages by emailing to: cards.thetacyfoundation@gmail.com
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Holliday for her inspiring leadership and commitment to the Tacy Foundation. In addition to a myriad of additional activities, she mails and delivers our cards to these facilities. Most importantly, she provides us with amazing and creative ideas along with encouragement for our cards projects. Mrs. Holliday, thank you so much.
A special thank you to Eric Zou, Mario Lara, Chloe Xing and Rukmani Lara for their leadership and commitment as Chief Cards Interns. Receiving, sorting, and reviewing volunteer cards along with corresponding with our volunteers through the mailbox are just a few of their responsibilities, and they continue to shine in their roles. Eric, Mario, Chole and Ruki, thank you again.
Thanks to all of you for continuing to participate in the Tacy Foundation’s cards projects! As always, please continue to sign up for our projects and then email us at: cards.thetacyfoundation@gmail.com for project guidelines and drop-off locations.
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Thank you to all of those who rallied to send their eternal messages of hope to those suffering tremendous loss.
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I Heard There Was a Secret Cord by Daniel J. Levitin was published recently. Here is an excerpt from a review:
“Never underestimate music’s power to engage us,” said Diane Cole in The Wall Street Journal. In his new book, the author of This Is Your Brain on Music surveys he latest research on music’s healing power, blending the science with anecdotes from his own career as a musician and neuroscientist.
Source: THE WEEK, November 15, 2024, page 23.
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The Tacy Foundation continues to prepare for new project to have some of the same student volunteers who give musical performances conduct interviews with selected senior residents at care facilities. The students will then write brief “life stories” on the seniors that will be available on the Foundation website and/or in our newsletter. We anticipate that the project will have multiple benefits for both our volunteers and the seniors.
We have already received notes of interest from Sunrise Brookdale, Sunrise Friendship Heights, Sunrise Rockville, and Asbury Methodist Village. Chief Interns Samuel Wang and Anirudh Sridhar are preparing a Manual for Life Stories and many teens are very interested in this project.
However, a number of managerial and privacy issues are still being worked out before we can officially launch this initiative. We hope to share guidelines soon.
One key issue has already been resolved. The relevant office from Montgomery County Public School has clarified requirements for SSL credits to be earned by student participants in the initiative. This information is available at:
https://montgomerycountymd.galaxydigital.com/need/detail/?need_id=1005760
and is copied below.
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Life Stories - A Project for Honoring Seniors
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The Tacy Foundation proposes to encourage selected student volunteers to interview and write the stories of the incredible seniors who have built and maintained the communities where we are now privileged to live. We hope to discover and share seniors’ stories of personal, family, and work lives in the past decades. They are the heroes who, despite huge life challenges, have raised families, created charitable organizations, served their neighborhoods with vigilance for all families, and contributed with integrity through their professions and community service.
Capturing the stories of seniors has sparked the interest of a number of young musicians. The teens' stellar efforts to bring hope and memory to seniors with their music and conversations through the past 12 years have inspired us all. Youth have learned that these precious people are most interesting, well-educated, appreciative of youth, and devoted parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
To receive SSL hours, the student must be directly supervised by a Tacy Foundation adult volunteer or an assisted living staff member while interviewing the seniors. The interviews must be held in a public space, that is, a common area of the assisted living facility. This requirement is designed for the student's safety. The student can draft the actual article at home. He or she will then submit the article to the Tacy Foundation Director for review. When an article is ready, it will be published in the Foundation’s monthly newsletter. It will also be offered to the senior facility’s newsletter for their residents and staff.
SSL Credit is based on the hours for the interview and equivalent time writing the life story of the senior. SSL credit will be determined as follows:
SSL Hours will be based on the length of the actual interview, some longer and some shorter than others. Students will earn hour-for-hour the time spent conducting the interview.
SSL Hours of transcribing the interview will vary, depending on the length of the interview.
1 Hour of SSL Credit for transcribing 1 hour of interview. 2 hours of transcription for 2 hours of interview, and so on.
Any photos require pre-approval by the family and senior facilities.
Kindly contact the Teen Chief Intern of this project: lifestories.tacyfoundation@gmail.com
The Teen leader (Chief Intern) will respond as promptly as he is able.
Student participation in this service project is at the discretion of the student’s parent/guardian. The nonprofit organization is responsible for maintaining student safety and privacy at any time the student is interacting with the nonprofit and its clients. The nonprofit organization will determine the number of SSL hours awarded based on the evidence submitted. Parents/guardians should contact the nonprofit directly with any questions and/or concerns. This service activity is designed to be completed within the safety of the student’s home.
Additional Detail: Volunteers should be between the ages of 13 and 18.
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Educational Mission: Foster youth development through music, story and mentoring
Philanthropic Mission: Empower youth to discover and use their gifts in service to others
Social Mission: Build community partnerships and create intergenerational connections
Whom We Serve
Seniors
Children
Teens
Service members
Veterans
Injured/sick
Economically disadvantaged
Individuals who want to serve
How We Serve (Programs)
Live music concerts
Reading Express®
Piano Pals®
Guitar Pals®
Composers’ Circle
Music USBs
Musical equipment
COVID projects through video, email, cards, puzzles for outreach to the community
Charlotte Holliday, Founder and Executive Director
Matthew D. Scott and Michael Tacy, Graphic Editors
Michael Favin, Chief Editor
Zoe Bell, Teen Editor
Max Belyanstev, Teen Editor
Donations are appreciated. All adult and teen staff are volunteers. No salaries or benefits. Every dollar you donate goes to supplies for all projects offered to the community.
Thank you!
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