SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — On the corner of Pacific Ave. and Wetmore Ave. in Everett, the heart of a building is getting a new beat.
"When I get done, it's cathartic, I'm totally relaxed," said Douglas Scott Alexander.
He's a client who participates in a drumming music therapy session every week for veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
He's been in the program for six years but was drumming this Tuesday in the non-profit's new location in a place formerly known for memorializing endings.
"The feeling when we first came in here having been a funeral home, I had some trepidation, but from the moment I came in it felt wonderful," he said.
On September 6, the non-profit moved into the former Purdy & Walter's Funeral Home. The building, which had been empty for several years, came at the right price and had the right layout for the Snohomish County Music Project's executive director Vasheti Quiros.
"We have room to grow and that's huge because we are growing," said Quiros.
The non-profit was previously in an old movie theater at the Everett Mall. It didn't have the variety of rooms or natural lighting that the old funeral home now provides, no modifications necessary.
The Snohomish County Music Project serves a variety of clients in the area, most of whom have dealt with some form of trauma or have developmental challenges. They work with youth, mothers and their children, adults and aging populations.
Trained therapists work with clients on coping mechanisms, ways to connect and other issues through music.
"They are making huge impacts with vulnerable members of the Snohomish County community, so they're healing hearts with music," she said.
Quiros says that they are continuing the healing that the building was originally intended for, just in different ways.
"We're happy to honor this space for the initial intention."
For more information on the Snohomish County Music Project click here.