Grantee Database

Grant Year

2026-27

Grant Program

Impact Projects

Award Amount

$17,500.00

Project Description

YG2D will use CAC Impact Projects funds to sustain and expand Songs for Life, a hospice musical companionship program serving terminally ill patients in San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and East Bay communities. CAC funding supports program management in both regions, plus live bedside musician visits distributed across these areas. Professional musicians provide personalized, culturally responsive musical experiences at the end of life, addressing documented social isolation, emotional distress, and lack of arts access among hospice patients. This project serves an inherently underserved population facing systemic barriers to cultural participation due to terminal illness, mobility limitations, and economic constraints.

Organization Summary

“Songs for Life” is a heartfelt program connecting professional musicians with hospice patients to provide musical comfort and companionship. Adding meaning to life’s final chapter, musicians create original music inspired by and in honor of each patient’s life.

“ALIVE INSIDE” is a transformative program that establishes a symbiotic relationship between local artists and the incarcerated community through music and poetry. Facilitated by YG2D trained personnel, led by local artists, and in collaboration with prison health and wellness programs, YG2D offers this marginalized community the uncommon opportunity to express grief and honor loss through creative mediums in the context of a safe and powerful communal listening space. The shared experiences within these sessions foster large-scale communion as both artists and inmates connect through their vulnerability and sharing of personal experiences of grief, ultimately amplifying the voices of the incarcerated population both within and beyond prison walls.

“Weekly Community Grief Release”: YG2D facilitates a weekly online gathering space where individuals share and witness grief within a supportive community. The event features music and poetry from local artists and time for communal sharing in a safe virtual space.

“You’re Going to Die” Podcast: YG2D’s weekly podcast navigates conversations on grief, loss, and mortality through personal stories, insights, and reflections shared by a variety of guests, including activists, authors, musicians, and individuals who have experienced profound loss.

“You’re Going to Die” Open Mics: Poetry, Prose, and Everything Goes; Mourning Our Mothers/Fathers; All The Feels, and more! YG2D’s beloved open mic events have been the main attraction of YG2D since its inception. Now held live monthly in the Lost Church in San Francisco and virtually every quarter, YG2D continues to provide communal space to explore and embrace mortality through live music and poetry performed by local artists while celebrating the joy of being ALIVE together.

Organization

YG2D

Address

375 Elsie St

Lower Unit

San Francisco

94110-5519

County

San Francisco

Region

Bay Area – San Francisco

Website

Email

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