(Chesapeake) – Tidewater Arts Outreach is pleased to announce a partnership with the Chesapeake Health Department – hiring its talented roster of musicians to perform at the health department’s remote vaccine clinics at Dominion Commons every Tuesday during the month of March.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Chesapeake Health Department, and our musicians are excited to support these community health events,” says Tidewater Arts Outreach Executive Director, Kate Powell. “We believe strongly in the healing power of the arts and the role of the arts in better health outcomes and quality of life. We want to show support for our health departments in their tireless efforts to make our communities safer and healthier and are honored that the Chesapeake Health Department took us up on this offer!”
Chesapeake Health Director, Dr. Nancy Welch, is an ardent supporter of the arts. “Thank you to our musicians from Tidewater Arts Outreach for providing such a calming environment during our vaccination clinics. Our staff and clients are very appreciative. Music is known to be healing, refreshing, and rejuvenating, a classic public health model of attending to the total person.”
This partnership is made possible through a recent grant awarded to Tidewater Arts Outreach from the CDC Foundation. Tidewater Arts Outreach was one of just 30 organizations in the country to receive this grant to use the arts to build vaccine confidence in the Hampton Roads region.
“We are excited to bring the arts and science together in a really powerful way with these partnerships,” said Judy Monroe, MD, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “Through their chosen art forms, these organizations will be able to create accessible and inspiring work that communicates essential health information about the safety and importance of vaccination in protecting communities from COVID-19 and influenza.”
Funding for this effort is made possible through a subaward from the CDC Foundation and is part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) financial assistance award totaling $2,500,000.00 with 100 percent funding from CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.
About Tidewater Arts Outreach:
The mission of Tidewater Arts Outreach (TAO) is to bring joy to older adults and those living in isolating circumstances and enhance their well-being through creative engagement with the arts. Since its inception in 2004, Tidewater Arts Outreach has served 100,000 participants in over 3,500 programs. Programs are always free to participants and utilize the region’s vast artistic talent in music, visual arts, performing arts, and literary arts.
About Chesapeake Health Department:
The Chesapeake Health department is dedicated to improving the quality of life for all citizens of Chesapeake, while protecting the community from disease and environmental hazards. Since 1962, the Chesapeake Health Department has diligently served families, businesses, and workers in and around the City of Chesapeake and the Commonwealth. Director Nancy Welch, MD,MHA,MBA, is the senior health director in Virginia, with over 45 years of public health service.