Music program for at-risk teens wins $500,000 grant - The San Diego Union-Tribune

David’s Harp Foundation, an East Village music education foundation for at-risk teens, was chosen this week as one of just three change-making organizations in America to receive the inaugural $500,000 Lewis Prize for Music.

The goal of the just-launched New York philanthropic organization is to invest in leaders who are making positive change in their communities through music and expanding access to all. Brandon Steppe, who founded David’s Harp in his San Diego garage in 2009, said he was deeply moved by the charity’s recognition of his mission to impact young lives through music.

“This is everything,” said Steppe, 39, in a phone interview Wednesday from New York. “Being able to see young people prosper and to see them transform and then come back and participate in the work is really everything. It’s not only gratifying, it really is a reflection of the community we’ve been able to create together.”

David’s Harp offers incentive-based programs where teens in at-risk communities, high schools, homeless shelters and the juvenile justice system can work with professional recording engineers and mentors to produce their own music and videos and learn career skills. Participation is free and open to all, but the teens must maintain good grades and consistent records of attendance and good behavior to earn studio time.

The program has a successful track record, Steppe said, because the lure of recording music and videos is so enticing that most of the teens are more than willing to be held accountable. Two of the foundation’s most successful graduates are David Higareda, 21, and Jesus Villegas, 22, who learned how to produce videos at David’s Harp a few years ago. The recent City College graduates now run their own corporate video business.

David’s Harp now serves about 420 youth each year, including about 100 in the county’s East Mesa and Kearny Mesa juvenile halls. It’s that initiative, called Beats Behind the Wall, that captured the imagination of the Lewis Prize judges. Launched in March 2018, the Beats Behind program sends David’s Harp engineers into the detention centers with backpack-size audio recording systems. They use music as a bridge to help the teens express themselves and find hope for a different future.

The $500,000 Lewis prize will be used over the next five years to develop a sister program called Beats Beyond the Wall, which provides teen probationers with audio engineering training for $15-an-hour AV tech jobs at San Diego hotels and resorts. The Beats Beyond program’s first six students are now finishing up their training and 15 more are in the pipeline. Steppe said the long-term goal is to make Beats Beyond an arts-centric diversion program for teens facing detention.

“The five-year plan is to be able to build a center where young people can come in lieu of juvenile hall. We hope the Lewis Prize builds momentum in making a case for the great outcomes we’ve had in our two years in the system,” said Steppe, who said he’ll officially launch the Beats Beyond the Wall program on Feb. 5.

Steppe grew up in Southeast San Diego where his family has a long record of community service. His great-grandmother Rebecca Craft was president of the local NAACP chapter and founded the Logan Heights Women’s Civic League. His now-retired grandfather, Cecil Steppe, was director of the county’s Department of Social Services and CEO of the Urban League of San Diego County.

Back in 2006, Steppe quit his job managing a car rental agency, cashed in his 401(k) and built a music studio in his garage to pursue a dream of becoming a hip-hop music producer. One day, a neighborhood boy came by the garage and asked if he could record some raps. Steppe sent him away, but when the boy returned, he offered the teen studio hours in exchange for good grades. Working with several kids in the neighborhood, Steppe saw how music and mentoring opened up these often-troubled teens to new possibilities.

That led to the foundation of David’s Harp, which became a nonprofit in 2009. It now has three full-time employees and eight part-time mentors who are local professional musicians. Steppe named his foundation after the Bible story of David, who could ward off evil spirits whenever he played his harp for King Saul.

The Lewis Prize for Music was created by music arts philanthropist Daniel R. Lewis, whose father founded Progressive Insurance. His goal is to award $15 million in prize money over the next five years to music programs that create positive change in society. Prizes will be given each year at levels of $25,000, $50,000 and $500,000. This year’s other two $500,000 recipients are Sebastian Ruth and Community MusicWorks, a Rhode Island organization aimed at making classical music more egalitarian and inclusive, and Ian Mouser and My Voice Music, an Oregon foundation that brings healing songwriting, recording and performance opportunities to people in mental health treatment and detention centers. For more, visit thelewisprize.org.

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