The world has now spent an entire year living with the COVID-19 pandemic. What has this meant for Music Maker’s many partner artists? Our social worker, Brittany Anderson, sums it up best: “What I’ve found is that 2020 really took a toll on our artists. Just in a regular environment, as it was pre-COVID, they were already kind of struggling to make ends meet because they’re older, and their primary source of income was gigs. They were already kind of an underserved population making little to nothing almost.”

Consider this: In 2019 and early 2020, 83 percent of our partner artists were performing regularly and making money at every gig. But since the pandemic forced a global shutdown, all those gigs have disappeared. The last 12 months have been the most difficult ones our partner artists have ever lived through.

Gigs were “a large portion of the artists’ income,” Anderson says. “I’ve spoken to one artist who actually, when we did the math, lost out on about $25,000 in 2020. We’re in 2021 now, and COVID is still around, and unfortunately things still have to be paid — people’s rent, their water, electricity, food. Those things are still needs for people. And unfortunately what I found is that most artists are really struggling because they don’t have that [gig] income coming into the home.”

To help our partner artists fill the gap, Anderson is now researching other charitable organizations that already provide assistance to people who live in similar circumstances. She is also coaching our partner artists on how to avoid predatory lenders.

“So many people are backed in a corner,” she says. “They’re looking for ways to extend out car payments or extend out their rent or their mortgage. And so they’re taking these loans, not necessarily knowing how to pay them back. Our survey said almost 90 percent of of our partner artists have an item in a pawn shop.”

She is also working with our partner artists to help them find access to COVID-19 vaccines. “I want them to know that if they’re interested and don’t know where to start, they can give me a call because that’s what I’m here for,” Anderson says. “I will sit down at the computer and I’ll go through it to get you scheduled. One of the main barriers right now for the population over 65 is technology. You know, you have to have access to a computer or know how to navigate the internet in order to schedule. I’m just letting the artists know that that’s what I’m here for and I can assist with that directly.”

Brittany and the entire Music Maker staff are working as hard as they can to keep our partner artists afloat until gigs — and the money that comes with them — come back. The donations that come from people like you allow us to keep helping our partner artists, so we hope you will consider a donation today.

To read our complete 2020 report about all the assistance we provided to artists, click here.