Michael Bolton: The giftgiver who keeps on giving
MICHAEL BOLTON IS THE GIFTGIVER WHO KEEPS ON GIVING
Michael Bolton wasn’t always big.
Though signed to Epic Records at 16, the multiGrammyawardwinning pop superstar, who hails from New Haven, didn’t attain success as a musician until he was 34.
In the intervening years, “I was struggling to provide for my own family — rent checks bouncing, eviction notices, and worrying about adequate food are times that I’ll never forget,” Bolton says.
So when Bolton hit the big time and was invited to contribute to charities for such causes as cancer research and juvenile diabetes, he realized he had an opportunity to help others who are struggling.
“I felt compelled to do something in my home state,” he says. “My first instinct was to help families struggling financially, an issue with which I was all too familiar.”
In 1993, he founded The Michael Bolton Charities, which primarily responds to issues affecting women and children at risk, such as domestic violence, poverty and homelessness. Since it began, MBC has raised more than $10 million through contributions and special events.
During a recent email interview, Bolton discussed the program’s recent 25th anniversary, the work it has done so far and where he sees the organization headed.
Amanda Cuda: Last month, The Michael Bolton Charities presented “Chords of Hope,” a gala celebrating the organization’s 25plus years of service. What do you feel is the greatest accomplishment of the program to date?
Michael Bolton: After 25 years, we continue to be able to raise urgently needed funds to support shelters and other facilities, as well as the people who do the work, day in and day out to improve, and in many cases, save the lives of children and women in crisis.
Early on, we established a Safe Space for City Kids in New Haven, a type of after school program for the arts. This included a stage, instruments, recording studio and instructors. This program truly changed the lives of many of our alumni, some of whom are successful in their own right as adults, and who continue to give back to others.
Another organization the MBC has collaborated with is the Yale Child Study Center — we funded research into the issue of homelessness and recidivism in the shelters. This research yielded information proving that victims suffered from ... cognitive impairments. The Yale team was able to have certain clients tested for cognitive impairment and, as a result, they were able to receive benefits that these individuals would never would have known how to access.
Our most recent endeavor, the “Beyond TraumaYouth Music Therapy” program, is having a profound impact on our students in a high school of last resort (in New Haven), and we are currently replicating this program in New London with plans to go nationwide.
I have also been to Washington to testify before members of the House and Senate, for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. It was the first federal policy dedicated to creating a framework for addressing the various types of genderbiased violence like sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and dating violence. Since 1994, VAWA went through three reauthorization processes, the last being in April of 2019, when it was passed for another five years.
AC: I know that your current focus is “Beyond TraumaYouth Music Therapy.” Can you describe some of the work that's been through that charity, and any success stories you’ve had?
MB: This breakthrough program reaches highrisk students who have a history of exposure to domestic violence and significant trauma. Following extensive research, we concluded that a highly personalized music therapy program would possess the potential for lifechanging impact as a powerful and critical tool in the healing process.
This program has been a successful tool in soothing the souls of some of our most traumatized students. We’ve seen an increase in attendance, a decrease in behavior issues, and an increase in engagement. It has had a profound and dramatic influence on social, emotional, and academic wellbeing and integrates beautifully with the academic arena.
Music allows students to unearth emotions and experiences that had been locked away, often with debilitating consequences. The result can be the heartwrenching and horrific torrent of emotional upheaval; jarring candor on a journey to healing. As one student explained, “it is scary sometimes to talk about your own stuff. It gets easier.”
AC: What are your goals moving forward?
MB: For me, a primary victory would be the establishment of a required dialogue in schools when boys develop their belief systems and to reinforce the perception that you can never be a real man if you are violent with women. Our position is zero tolerance for violence against women. And again, replicating the Beyond Trauma Program here in Connecticut and throughout the country.
“MUSIC ALLOWS STUDENTS TO UNEARTH EMOTIONS AND EXPERIENCES THAT HAD BEEN LOCKED AWAY, OFTEN WITH DEBILITATING CONSEQUENCES.”