Harold: Hi guys, my name is Harold St. Louis and I am an ILC/programming, but most importantly, I run the music department or music therapy over here at FIL. Oh my god.
Q: What inspired you to pursue music therapy and how did that passion lead you to working with communities like FIL?
Harold: You know what inspired me is I was at a really broken place, and I knew I needed healing, and I was invited to come to FIL as a worker during this time, and while being here I was finding my healing through these residents.
In working here, I didn’t know I would be as inspired as I was, only to find that there was a need. There was a need for music. Music is my thing. It’s in my blood. It’s in my everything that I do. And once I brought that to the situation, I realized it’s inspiring folks. Here’s music therapy.
Q: Your sessions focus on rhythm, beats, and vocal expression. How do you design group activities that keep residents engaged while also teaching musical concepts?
Harold: You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. See, the moment I sung that song, you knew the next word to say, right? That’s the same way I did in FIL. Same exact thing. I find where there’s a need. And once I knew it gravitated to you, gotcha. And we all be part of this big family of music. And when I realized it’s healing folks, they want to now. We just let it run with it and we run with it. Simple as that.
Q: Since starting the program, what meaningful changes or breakthroughs have you noticed in the residence during your sessions?
Harold: Oh my gosh. Are you kidding me? The beginning, the moment we started, I realized first and foremost as I was preparing, I thought I was preparing for, you know, regular students or whatever. I was over-prepared which helped me slow things down, balance things a little bit when we started.
I remember the residents especially this particular resident, Jessica Ingram, but anyway I remember this particular resident as well as all the residents they did not know how to read music. I introduced the notes, quarter notes, rest, half notes, whatever it may be at the time. And they was like looking at this thing, this gibberish. Today, a year and a few months later, they’re reading music and they’re writing music.
Way to go, FIL. I’m so proud of you guys. And that’s what we do over here. Simple as that.
Q: Music therapy often reaches people on an emotional level. Can you share a moment when you saw music open up a resident or help them express themselves in a new way?
Harold: I had a resident one time, right, who would attend my music therapy sessions a few times and in this particular Sunday this resident was home and I was told that this person wanted to hurt themselves. No one really knew what to do with that at that moment. And I went ahead and barged in and asked him, “Can I talk? Can I go to his house?”
I knew he had an interest for music. Just didn’t know how I was going to apply or implement the music in the situation. But when I got there, I saw how he was talking, how he kept on saying he wanted to hurt himself. But yet I said, “Hey man, did you ever think about practicing?”
And we started practicing together. He pulled out his first instrument and he started playing. I’m like, “Oh, you sound great. What about that instrument?” Then he pulled out the other instrument and he started playing. I was like, “Oh, you start to sound a little bit better. Let’s go to this instrument.” Then we went to the piano. He started playing and he started feeling something. He said, “Hey, wait a minute, Harold. I think I’m doing good.”
Then he went back to the original instrument. Here’s the taker here. Here’s the home taker here. Through the whole time, time was passing by. Not once did he bring up hurting himself. By the end of the night, he’s like, “Harold, how did I do?”
I’m like, “You did great. Look at all this time that passed by. How do you feel?” He said, “I feel great.” I said, “Do you still feel like hurting yourself?” He’s like, “Absolutely not. I’m actually going to practice tomorrow again.” I said, “As a matter of fact, not only practice tomorrow, practice every day. And every time you feel like you need to do those type of things to yourself, look at your instruments and practice. He’s been practicing ever since.
Q: You’ve played a key role in shaping FIL’s creative arts department. What is your long-term vision for integrating more music and creative expression into our programming?
Harold: Truth be told, I don’t know, but I know. But the truth is, I don’t know. But I know why. Because it’s still growing. The information that we’re receiving from these different clients is ever changing, forever changing. So I may start one way, but I might change another way.
For example, I have a resident that’s here at FIL who’s a artist. And when I saw the niche that he had, the niche that he had to be an artist, and he’s writing a song, hey man, I’m recording. Let’s get together and record. Once recorded, I realized he has the interest to really do this thing. Hm. Maybe he should be an artist for this type of community.
Automatically, the vision just changed. It expanded. So, automatically there was another artist. Well, he’s another resident who is becoming an artist. His name is Glenn. He can write. He can sing. Now, all of a sudden, I have two singers who are rappers, artists. All of a sudden that makes me want to open a whole different department in music where you have different artists for this community. What am I saying? It’s forever changing.
This can go as far as having a a studio for different artists or having an area for people to express themselves or sing live or a choir. Now we have singalongs and all of a sudden it wants to build this choir thing. Who knows how far this will go? But one thing I do know, as far as it wants to go, as far as how far I want to go, we could go there. Whether it be an artist, a part for artistry, a part for recording artists, a part for whatever it may be in the fine arts department, we’re going to fill every department. Simple as that.
Q: What keeps you inspired each week as you prepare your sessions?
Harold: What keeps me inspired is literally when I come to class, sometimes I come way before, but they’re ready. People are here ready. We ready once I come in like, okay, it’s about to go down. And you know what else that keep me keeps me inspired? The discipline that these residents have. First few minutes of music therapy, I put on a video. I don’t need to explain myself why. They know what to do and all they’re doing is working out their reading muscle. So it keeps me going. It shows me their want to do this. So keeps me going. Thank you. FIL.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working with the FIL community?
Harold: FI allows me to be a kid. Why? Because I’m a big kid. They don’t hold me back. They actually push me. If it’s going well, if it’s the advantage or the advantage of the residents, Harold, keep going. As a matter of fact, what do you need? They don’t hold me back. They don’t make me feel like I’m crazy. They make me know or they allow me or they affirm me, hell, you’re doing a great job. Look at the results. I love that. I will keep going.
Q: This is our Thanksgiving issue. What are you most grateful for this year?
Harold: Man, I am so most grateful at the fact that I was able to heal here. Uh I work with a group of people that really loves love and it’s a big family. They notice when you’re broken. They notice when you’re going up and when you’re down, which means it says a lot about the leadership here.
I honor the leaders here. I’m grateful for the leadership here. I’m grateful for the team here. I’m grateful for the residents that are able to impact me as much as I impact them. So, healing, family, structure, discipline, training, the leadership. I honor you guys. Thank you.
Q: If you can leave a last message for our residents, what would that be?
Harold: You know what I’ll say to you guys? FIL residents, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You never know, dear how much I love you. So please don’t take that sunshine. FIL don’t take that sunshine residents. Don’t take that sunshine. My sunshine always. Bye.
