PARC Retirement Living Proudly Supports the Sarah McLachlan School of Music

L-R: PARC Retirement Living Marketing Director, Anna Louie, Sarah McLachlan, PARC Retirement Living HR Business Partner, Tori Phillips

Chances are, you have a song or piece of music that you enjoy listening to. Perhaps hearing it evokes certain memories or instantly lifts your mood. Music is powerful, and also beneficial to your health.

Research published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences reports that listening to music activates parts of the brain involved in cognitive and emotional processing. Music engages sensory and memory-related processes, as well as many more brain functions. Engaging these processes result in beneficial effects on the psychological and physiological health of individuals.

Research from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging also found that “increasing access to relevant music experiences… or accessibility to choirs, instruments, training and music therapists, may help maintain and augment quality of life in later years.”

Knowing this, we are committed to providing our residents with a wide range of opportunities to listen to and engage with music. One of the ways we do this is by supporting local music schools and non-profit organizations.

One music school we’re particularly fond of supporting is the Sarah McLachlan School of Music.

Founded on singer and songwriter, Sarah McLachlan’s desire to help others, the Sarah McLachlan School of Music is a safe space for young people to explore music as an emotional outlet and lens through which they can make sense of the world. The music school provides a safe space for at-risk and undeserved children and youth to develop the confidence they need to explore their strengths and overcome their challenges.

We are thrilled to have Sarah McLachlan’s students perform at many of our residences. These performances provide a unique opportunity for residents to listen to different styles and genres of music performed by the students while making inter-generational connections.

This year PARC Retirement Living has proudly donated $28,000 to the school, with another $50,000 committed for next year.

L-R: PARC Retirement Living Founder and Chairman, Rainer Müller, Sarah McLachlan, PARC Director of Marketing, Anna Louie, and PARC VP of Strategic Growth, Tony Baena