Photography by: Marc Swender

Austin, Texas, is full of talented musicians. These musicians are living their dreams: playing regular gigs at popular clubs, pinning their hopes on record deals, playing their hearts out onstage and trying to make ends meet. Some do; some don’t.

For the city’s hardworking professional musicians who don’t make enough money to cover the basic cost of living, much less health care that keeps them out of emergency rooms, there is Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM). Known for saving lives and careers, HAAM provides access to programs by an unprecedented collaboration among its affiliate service providers for medical, dental, vision, hearing and mental health care.

In fact, in its five years, HAAM has secured more than 31,881 appointments – everything from counseling sessions, dental cleanings and custom earplug fittings to emergency surgery and vouchers for free eyeglasses – for more than 2,200 enrollees.

What the city gets back is a healthier population of guitarists, percussionists, horn players, keyboardists, singers and others – those who have become an important fiber in the cultural cloth of the city; who have made Austin such an enviable place to live, work and do business; who cause the contribution of millions of dollars to its economy annually; and who fill it with Americana, Texas country, blues, jazz, salsa, soul, funk, pop, folk and rock ’n’ roll music every night and every year on HAAM Benefit Day, when businesses and residents return the favor by donating to HAAM.

On HAAM Benefit Day 2010, more businesses made a donation or pledged 5 percent of the day’s proceeds (more than 200), and more music was made (more than 140 live performances at locations across town); the event also brought in the largest amount of funds ever raised for HAAM, its member-musicians and the health care service programs they participate in: $195,000. And it happens again on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011; all are asked to support the fifth HAAM Benefit Day.

“Before joining HAAM, I was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” says member-musician Adam Gibbs. “I was just in and out of the hospital, and was forced to quit my band. I couldn’t breathe enough to keep up on my drums.

“HAAM got me set up with Dr. Buttrey. She really cares about me, and I haven’t been back to the ER once! I can’t stress enough how grateful I am to HAAM. They allowed me to continue to play music.”

It’s a story that plays out almost every day.

“It is rewarding to know just how much of a difference HAAM makes in the lives of the musicians,” says Tim Taylor, current chairman of the board of directors. “I hear it all the time: musicians expressing their gratitude for the programs and complimenting us on the quality of their care. We couldn’t do it without the kindness of our affiliate service providers, and certainly not without the generosity of businesses and individuals in the Austin community.”

The year 2010 was HAAM’s first without its founding chairman, the late Robin Shivers – a visionary, community leader and philanthropist who saw a need and set about fulfilling it. She pulled together a board that included Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel and representatives of Seton Family of Hospitals (primary medical care) and St. David’s Foundation (basic dental care), the two largest health care providers in Central Texas, and the board was joined by The SIMS Foundation (mental health care).

Executive Director Carolyn Schwarz was brought on to be the sole staff member of the new organization. That was 2005. Shivers secured the commitment; Schwarz was tasked with maintaining and expanding it.

Schwarz set out to recruit founding sponsors willing to support a young organization with a short track record. Within a year, she had raised enough funds to double enrollment of HAAM member-musicians and expand programs. Each year under Schwarz’s leadership, in fact, fundraising has increased (for a total of more than $2.5 million).

Schwarz has built HAAM into a well-respected community asset with strong groups of volunteer HAAMbassadors and Good Eggs & HAAM members, both made up of young professionals who believe in HAAM’s mission, love live music and want to give back to the musicians who make it.

When Schwarz learned from a HAAM annual customer satisfaction survey that member-musicians overwhelmingly identified hearing services as a high priority crucial to their profession that was financially out of reach, she acted. Today, Estes Audiology conducts HAAM’s The HEAR Project, which educates, screens and fits member-musicians with custom earplugs.

HAAM’s newest affiliate service provider, Prevent Blindness Texas, offers dilated eye exams and vouchers for eyeglasses to qualifying member-musicians. Providers now communicate closely about patients they share, and are looking holistically at member-musicians’ well-being.

So on any given night in Austin when a large number of the city’s estimated 8,000 professional musicians are offering the best in live performances (and especially on HAAM Benefit Day), it’s a safe bet that behind the scenes, HAAM is working to keep music in Austin alive and well.

Content provided by: Health Alliance for Austin Musicians

Membership applications and information are available at www.HealthAllianceForAustinMusicians.org and www.myhaam.org. For additional information, contact Carolyn Schwarz at 512-324-3414 or cschwarz@healthallianceforaustinmusicians.org.