Myrtle Beach Music School Small Business Relief
It's very difficult to write this, and to ask for your help, but as we face the coronavirus crisis, we must turn to our community for support.
I founded Saving Grace Music School 7 years ago, as a stay-at-home Myrtle Beach mom. With a background as a musician, special needs mom and performer I was often asked to teach music lessons to my friend's children and teens. In 2013 as my children were growing up I began the search for a part time job to supplement our families income. The search was long but I found my place and I decided to jump in, create a music studio and meet the needs of local families. The recipe was simple: affordable high quality music education framed with a nurturing and fun style.
SGMS grew over the years: I hired teachers, we became partners with the Music Link Foundation and I became the South Carolina State Coordinator, and together we have now taught hundreds of children. We have created ties with some of the schools and the communities here in Horry County, supporting families through reduced rates and scholarships for private lessons. Which is fabulous, right? But Music Link does not reimburse all of that loss, we take the loss and because of our goal to teach the kids that most need it we had no overhead for emergencies like Covid-19. My husband was always willing to help if we hit a rough spot and we always made it through with spotlights shining, the heavens opening and angels singing…well, thats what I always imagined. But last year my husband died from complications of Pancreatic Cancer and I’m alone raising a disabled teen.
When we were ordered to Social Distance, we faced a serious setback. In February we had TWO new teachers start at the school, in March THREE more! Remarkably, some of our teachers -- with an enormous amount of creativity and grace -- transitioned their private lessons to a virtual platform. We were so proud to complete many of our classes and private lessons online, offering our students educational consistency and the reassurance of seeing their music teacher's face weekly. But those new teachers can’t apply for income loss associated with the school because they weren’t employed long enough…not even thirty days.
We are now supposed to be transitioning to our Summer Session with Recitals scheduled for the end of April and, distressingly, have lost an enormous amount of revenue, as registration numbers are a small fraction of what they were before and a number of our students were unable to pay for March as they had to hunker down right when payments were due. At this point, Saving Grace Music School needs help to stay operational: we need to cover our monthly business expenses, I want to continue to pay our teachers, who rely on SGMS as an important part of their income even if they are unable to teach right now. And to keep students in lessons as parents are out of work and unable to continue with lessons. All proceeds will go toward keeping us open and offering our students that educational consistency they need right now.
We love our community, and we have loved bringing the joy and beauty of music to your family. We are so grateful for your support.
I founded Saving Grace Music School 7 years ago, as a stay-at-home Myrtle Beach mom. With a background as a musician, special needs mom and performer I was often asked to teach music lessons to my friend's children and teens. In 2013 as my children were growing up I began the search for a part time job to supplement our families income. The search was long but I found my place and I decided to jump in, create a music studio and meet the needs of local families. The recipe was simple: affordable high quality music education framed with a nurturing and fun style.
SGMS grew over the years: I hired teachers, we became partners with the Music Link Foundation and I became the South Carolina State Coordinator, and together we have now taught hundreds of children. We have created ties with some of the schools and the communities here in Horry County, supporting families through reduced rates and scholarships for private lessons. Which is fabulous, right? But Music Link does not reimburse all of that loss, we take the loss and because of our goal to teach the kids that most need it we had no overhead for emergencies like Covid-19. My husband was always willing to help if we hit a rough spot and we always made it through with spotlights shining, the heavens opening and angels singing…well, thats what I always imagined. But last year my husband died from complications of Pancreatic Cancer and I’m alone raising a disabled teen.
When we were ordered to Social Distance, we faced a serious setback. In February we had TWO new teachers start at the school, in March THREE more! Remarkably, some of our teachers -- with an enormous amount of creativity and grace -- transitioned their private lessons to a virtual platform. We were so proud to complete many of our classes and private lessons online, offering our students educational consistency and the reassurance of seeing their music teacher's face weekly. But those new teachers can’t apply for income loss associated with the school because they weren’t employed long enough…not even thirty days.
We are now supposed to be transitioning to our Summer Session with Recitals scheduled for the end of April and, distressingly, have lost an enormous amount of revenue, as registration numbers are a small fraction of what they were before and a number of our students were unable to pay for March as they had to hunker down right when payments were due. At this point, Saving Grace Music School needs help to stay operational: we need to cover our monthly business expenses, I want to continue to pay our teachers, who rely on SGMS as an important part of their income even if they are unable to teach right now. And to keep students in lessons as parents are out of work and unable to continue with lessons. All proceeds will go toward keeping us open and offering our students that educational consistency they need right now.
We love our community, and we have loved bringing the joy and beauty of music to your family. We are so grateful for your support.
Organizer
