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Local musicians needed for mentor program to help children in foster care

The "Kids In A New Groove" program pairs musicians with children in foster care to teach them how to play new instruments.

AUSTIN, Texas — Every Thursday on KVUE Daybreak, we feature a child in the local foster care system in the hopes of gaining them visibility with the goal of getting them adopted by a forever family. 

KVUE works closely with the nonprofit Partnerships for Children to coordinate these stories. The nonprofit helps and advocates for children in the Texas foster care system, providing a range of programs.

One of those programs is Kids in a New Groove (KING). It pairs local musicians in the Central Texas area with children and teens in foster care. The mentor spends an hour or so each week teaching the child a new instrument and enjoying some quality time learning about music.

"The program has been growing and right now, we need about 50 more musicians for kids [who are] waiting," said Josh Ransom, the program director for KING.

One of the current music mentors is Lauren Gammon. She said she understands the need for this program.

"My husband and I were foster parents and we fostered a few kids, and we eventually adopted," Gammon said.

She's currently teaching the bass to a teen girl.

"People sometimes have these negative stereotypes of teens in the foster care system, and they're just like everyone else and they just want some positive adults and someone in their lives," Gammon said.

Dave Bishea is also a music mentor and said the time with the kids becomes something bigger than just talking about music.

"The mentor side transcends from being a music teacher, and you become kind of a confidant," Bishea said.

The children in the program have access to a high quality studio in East Austin managed by the nonprofit Notes for Notes. Ray Prices oversees the effort and explained the students can use a wide range of instruments, recording equipment, sound boards and there's even a podcast corner.

"We have about 60 youth per week come through here," Price said.

The studio is located inside the Doris Miller Auditorium on Rosewood Avenue, which is a big piece of Black history in Austin.

"Right outside these doors is the first stage that allowed Black artists to perform in the Chitlin' Circuit in the '40s and '50s. So Ike and Tina Turner, Chuck Berry," Price said.

Sign up to be a music mentor here.

KVUE launched the Forever Families segment with Partnerships for Children (PFC) in June 2020 to highlight children in the Heart Gallery of Central Texas who need secure and permanent families. Every day, there are nearly 1,000 children waiting to get adopted in Central Texas, according to PFC.

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Editor's note: The children who are in the Heart Gallery program and featured in KVUE's Forever Families segments are children who have had every effort made on their behalf to connect them with family or others in their community to provide options for permanent, adoptive homes. Through no fault of their own, that hasn’t happened yet, and so in partnership with the Department of Family and Protective Services, we collaborate to bring awareness to KVUE viewers about these children in the hopes of finding them permanency before they age out.

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