Below are a few of the real-life stories to come out of the ACCHORD Music Mentorship Program. Some names have been changed to protect confidentiality.

Marissa:
Marissa was our first student, back in January 2000. At that time, she was 14 and homeless, having escaped an abusive home. We started off teaching her piano, but then switched to acoustic guitar, at her request. She worked very hard, and after completing 10 guitar lessons, received the first guitar given to a youth by ACCHORD. She was elated to be given a beautiful purple Ovation guitar. She has since continued learning, and has taught herself an advanced finger-picking playing style. At the age of 18, she had completed her G.E.D., was renting a house with friends, held a part time job, and was putting herself through school.

Jessie:
We met Jessie one Saturday at Station 7. We came in to give music lessons, and heard some amazing
saxophone music coming from upstairs. We were amazed to learn the music was coming from a youth, not a staff member or CD player. We were introduced to Jessie, a homeless 14-year old who travels around the country with his saxophone and little else. Jessie was only going to be in town for one week. Recognizing what a unique talent this kid is, we scrambled and got him into a recording studio where he made a 45-minute recording of his music. We also had his sax cleaned and refurbished. One week after meeting Jessie, we were able to send him off with a stack of CDs full of his own music. He was grateful for the opportunity to record, which was a brand new experience for him.

The following is a letter written to us by Nichoel, a recent AMP gradute:
This program was great. Not only did it build up my self confidence, but made me feel as if I had done something worthwhile. It was amazing how much I had learned in 10 weeks. I knew nothing about playing a guitar when I first started, and as the weeks progressed, my skills improved. I’m not saying I’m perfect, I am far from becoming a great guitarist. But with those 10 weeks, I learned more than I ever would have alone. After 10 weeks, I had earned my guitar, which gave me the emotional boost to play even more. This program is great, and I would love to continue on with it. It’s great for self confidence, and is also very fun.