North Minneapolis Music School Looks To Community For Help To Keep Doors Open
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – For eight years, teachers and students at Hopewell Music Cooperative have formed a special bond.
"They're just phenomenal at what they've done," Jaetta Carpenter, Co-Founder of Hopewell Music Cooperative said. "The teachers and the kids have been amazing here and I can't imagine them anywhere else."
This music school has created an environment of hope. It's one of the only music schools in north Minneapolis, most schools in the community have no music programs.
It's in these music rooms, inside a church in the Webber-Camden neighborhood, where lives are changed.
"I see the child they come in and I see them just sort of relax and work through daily things that happen in their lives and in their schools," Carpenter explained.
Now, this safe haven for talent expression is in danger of closing.
A change in leadership and an evaluation of its finances about 7 months ago forced the board and senior teachers to ask the community for help.
"By the time we realized what our outlook was it was very dire," Andrea Myers, Co-Founder, Hopewell Music Cooperative said.
Sixty-eight percent of Hopewell Music students receive financial support. If a student is on free or reduced lunch, their lessons are free or reduced.
Students can learn any instrument and are provided one-on-one instruction.
"The north side community is such a powerful connection to music and I would just hate to see that slip away," Myers added.
Time is not on Hopewell's side. $50,000 is needed by midnight Tuesday to keep the life-changing power of music education thriving.
Two hundred students and 16 teachers would be displaced if the music school has to close.
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