After her initial ah-Hah! moment, founder Sarah Martin McConnell was ready to launch her new idea. A colleague directed her to Janet Jernigan, Executive Director of Nashville’s premier senior services provider, FiftyForward.

Janet’s enthusiasm for McConnell’s business plan catalyzed initial funding to launch in the spring of 2007 as a new program affiliate, FiftyForward Music for Seniors.

When Sarah approached me about providing a home for Music for Seniors at FiftyForward, I was very interested. I knew that participants in our Adult Day Services Program loved having her visit regularly to lead the group in singing their favorite songs. I knew Sarah to be very talented, hard-working and caring; I was certain that she had what it took to make this new program a success.

At the time, FiftyForward had a grant from The Memorial Foundation to expand arts programs across our organization and we were able to provide a small amount of funding from this grant to help launch the program. By the time Music for Seniors left FiftyForward in 2014 to become a free-standing nonprofit agency, funding had grown through grants, fees for service and donations to the extent that the program was self-supporting. And even after the program officially left FiftyForward, our centers and programs have continued to benefit from Outreach and Concerts provided through Music for Seniors.

– Janet Jernigan