Music Changing Lives

Music Changing Lives, a California non-profit organization ("MCL," "we" or "our"), is designed to offer mentorship programs for underprivileged and neglected children, helping them improve their chances of achieving a positive and successful life. MCL's mission is to assist others in connecting with the essence of life with the goal of helping our youth build a better tomorrow. Music Changing Lives plans on achieving this goal by conducting and analyzing research, sponsoring extensive workshops, and collaborating with a variety of practitioners to further our mission of reducing America's dropout rate by meeting the needs of youth in at-risk neighborhoods.

MCL is in the process of raising money to fund various programs throughout our fiscal year, including but not limited to, a school tour throughout California entitled "The Ignorance Stops Here" which we hope will help in decreasing the drop-out rates of our youth. Nationwide, 68.1% of state prison inmates in 2003 did not have a high school diploma. In addition, California high school students' consumption of alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs is headed up. Nationwide, the rate of under aged drinking remained basically unchanged, but in California, it rose from 15.28 percent of California children between 12 and 17-years-old who said they had consumed alcohol in the previous month in 2002, to 16.81 percent who said they had in 2004. These youth need a positive venue, where they can have positive reinforcements who are interested and supportive of their talents and dreams. MCL plans to provide the youth with this venue.

MCL's future goals include building a community center for At-Risk Youth in Rialto, CA, which will be designed to teach our youth on how to become entrepreneurs in the music industry. The community center will facilitate a recording studio, a sound stage for film development, and a theater for plays and concerts. MCL strives to provide a safe environment conducive to positive living and learning experiences, in hopes of encouraging our youth that by investing in education, success is imminent. By keeping the youth interested in education, we can encourage them to stay in school. The community center will also offer them assistance with such programs as academic tutoring, time management skills, self empowerment training, manners & etiquette, artistic expressions through music, drama and poetry, salesmanship, financial planning, including the importance of credit and financial investments, and a variety of other positive enrichment tools.

Although MCL's main focus is At-Risk youth, we also plan to offer assistance to the parents in an effort to minimize the problems they face. Our future plans include providing services to the entire family through job assistance-preparation and training, shelters for the homeless, clothing and food distribution, low income housing, and eventually recreational centers throughout California.