Hi everyone,
This summer showed us just how much The Happiness Factory has grown.
Thanks to an incredible team of volunteers, parents and young musicians, we organized 10 concerts and Bedside Programs across New York during weeks when many families were away.
Young musicians kept signing up. Parents and volunteers stepped forward. Concert leaders picked up keyboards, gathered musicians and walked into senior residences. Music continued to fill common rooms, memory care units and individual bedrooms.
It was incredibly moving for me.
When The Happiness Factory began, it was essentially a family band. My children, my husband and I gathered a few instruments, invited friends to join us, and went to play music for older adults. I dreamed that one day it could become something much bigger than our family, something that would belong to a community.
This summer, I realized that dream is becoming a reality.
The Factory is running. And perhaps the most beautiful part is that it doesn't want to stop. There are always young musicians eager to play, volunteers willing to lead, and senior communities asking us to come, or to come back.
And that experience made me think about the future we are trying to build. I just finished writing our 2025 Annual Report, and I found myself reflecting on these words:
We imagine a future where live intergenerational music is not an occasional luxury in senior facilities, but a regular part of community life.
A future where a resident in a nursing home knows that young musicians will return.
Where a person confined to a room can still experience a live violin, piano or voice only a few feet from their bed.
Where children grow up understanding that their talent has meaning beyond achievement.
Where generations that rarely have the opportunity to meet can learn from one another.
And where music reminds us, again and again, of our shared humanity.
The Happiness Factory began with one family and a handful of instruments.
It is becoming a community. And we are only beginning.
