Choir program for people with mental health illnesses ending due to budget cuts

An award-winning choir at the Montreal General Hospital that helped people living with mental illness is ending due to a lack of funds.

For nearly 30 years, an award-winning choir at the Montreal General Hospital has helped people living with mental illness find strength and support.

But a lack of funding means that the program will soon come to an end.

“Music is a very natural, healthy, responsible way of getting that reward chemical from your brain, from getting that dopamine shot after you sing a song, you feel happier, you know, you you you feel fuller,” said John Jordan, who has bipolar disorder.

He joined Le Groupe MusiArt in 2019 following a hospitalization for a manic episode.

“When I was depressed, it cheered me up, and when I was manic, it gave me an outlet for all that extra energy, a safe, harmless outlet for all that extra energy,” Jordan said.

Music, he said, helps ground him.

“It’s very tight-knit,” he said. “It’s very loving; no one’s birthday goes unrecognized. Seems like we’re always signing a birthday card for someone.”

After 28 years, the choir is ending due to budget cuts.

Ami-Quebec’s Ella Amir said similar programs that help people with mental illness are also being cut, and she’s concerned about the impact.

“We are going to pay for more room, for more hospitalizations, for more relapses and so on and so forth,” said Amir.

The choir’s annual budget is $45,000, and the MUHC says the decision is due to a lack of philanthropic funds.

“We recognize the important role MusiArt has played for participants, their loved ones and the community at large for more than two decades, and this legacy is respected and appreciated,” the hospital said. “This decision does not undermine the importance of mental health at the MUHC or our commitment to supporting patient recovery.”

It added that music therapy for hospitalized patients will continue, and some services will still be available in certain outpatient areas.

MusiArt participants can be referred to the choir Les Inpatients, it said.

“We are aware that this situation may cause concern among those affected, and we are committed to listening to their concerns. To mitigate the impact of this change, activities will be phased out gradually,” the hospital said.

Amir said more needs to be done to support mental health programs because the activities shouldn’t be based on donations only.

Jordan hopes the choir can be saved as the group is preparing for their last concert in March.