Sing Me a Story: Nonprofit brings power of music to kids in need with original songs

It all started when a child life specialist asked Austin Atteberry to bring his guitar to a children’s hospital in Nashville and sing some songs.

The Northwestern grad, who grew up in Lake Bluff, was simply trying to impress the “cute girl” who moved next door. But those music-making sessions sparked something much bigger than silly children’s songs.

More than a decade after he agreed to volunteer, he’s helped create nearly 1,200 children songs that were dreamed up and written up by children in need. Through his foundation, Sing Me a Story, about 5,000 songwriters participate with 200 organizations serving children around the world, including Chicago HOPES for Kids, Chicago House and Sinai Children’s Hospital.

The songs are meant to uplift the spirits of underserved youths, as well as kids battling terminal illnesses or facing extended hospitalization, Atteberry said.

“The one thing they all have, regardless of their circumstance, is their hearts and their imaginations, and we bring those imaginations to some of the biggest microphones we can find,” Atteberry said. “We’ve seen that we are really instilling a sense of dignity in so many of these kids.”

Children from ages 4 to 17 have taken part in the projects. The composers take ideas presented in the stories and create an original song, record it and upload it to Sing Me A Story’s website. The foundation then creates “Jukebox Campaigns” for each uploaded song in an effort to raise money for the partnering organizations and Sing Me a Story. When fans contribute to the Jukebox Campaigns, they receive the song as an MP3 with their donation receipt.

Most songs are available on the site, but not all are not accessible to the public. Atteberry said they designate the more serious or personal stories, often ones coming from hospice organizations and palliative care organizations, to special music therapists.

“We’ve had all sorts of circumstances, where we’re creating real legacy pieces for families,” Atteberry said. “These songs are only for the families.”

This fall, 8-year-old Silas Mitchell thought of “super chinckins” when dreaming up his song. These special, rainbow chickens can run fast and jump over skyscrapers. When trouble calls, they band together to save the day.

Silas co-wrote the story, “The Super Chinckens Save the Day ‘’ with his 15-year-old sister Jasper Fidler, who suffered severe injuries from a rock climbing accident this summer. Her life once filled with soccer, school and friends became hospitals, surgeries and therapy sessions. After five surgeries, Jasper has learned to walk again, a feat that defied the odds doctors gave her.

“I remember sitting up used to make me feel like I was going to like pass out, and then it was one of the most painful things to walk around,” said Jasper, who is from North Carolina. “It’s just crazy to think about.”

Her family has been living in Chicago since August while Jasper receives intensive therapy from the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, where she now attends sessions 15 hours a week. Working on the song with her brother was a welcomeoutlet for the siblings after the accident altered their lives.

“It is special,” Jasper said. “It’s going to be good to be able to go back and hear that song and think about the time when we were writing it and think about how much has changed since then.”

Jasper shattered both ankles, both wrists, broke her sternum and spine in June during a weeklong rock climbing camp. She also suffered a spinal cord injury. Because of her injuries, she was flown from the Virginia camp site to a trauma center in Tennessee.

“The first news we got from her neurosurgeon was that she would be a paraplegic,” said her mother, Kori Mitchell. “It was unlikely she would walk again. Heartbreaking.”

Jasper went through five surgeries on her spine, feet, ankles and wrists. She still has no feeling from the knee down but has been using muscle memory to regain her mobility. She took her first steps again in September.

“Jasper’s character has carried her through all this with incredible strength, which is amazing for a 15-year-old,” said Greg Fidler, Jasper’s father. “We all try to rise to that level. Without Jasper strength, I don’t know how I would be able to handle all this.”

For Atteberry, to give kids the ability to create music allows them to find their voice, sometimes in situations where they often feel they don’t have one. No matter their background, he said every child has their own unique ideas to bring to the world.

“The one thing they all have, they all can give, is their imaginations, right?” he said. “When we show them that we value those imaginations, it gives them a real sense of empowerment.”

Atteberry said he often hears from families who reach out to say they’ve been listening to the song on repeat and that they feel grateful to the organization for making their child “feel like the center of the universe.” He recalls one mother who tattooed the lyrics of a song on her back.

While the songs can be related to the child’s personal journey, the songs are often much more lighthearted than people think, Atteberry said.

“They may be going through chemotherapy or whatever it is they’re going through, but at the end of the day, they’re still kids,” Atteberry said. “They write stories about pizza, dinosaurs, being the king of their castle, and all this stuff. For the kids to see that stuff turned into songs, they think it’s awesome.”

When Silas was encouraged to create a song about anything he wanted, “his imagination ran wild at that point,” Jasper said.

Ideas poured from Silas as he paced around their apartment. While most of Jasper’s song came from the imagination of her younger brother, Jasper said she helped put his ideas down on paper. As Jasper describes, she acted like his “scribe,” jotting down his ideas as fast she could.

After they finished writing, the two sat together, with crayons, markers, colored pencils and glitter sprawled across the table, to create illustrations to go along with the story.

The story is now in the hands of Roosevelt University composition students Tyler Ono and Megan DelSignore, who are transforming their work into a song.

“We appreciate the whole storytelling aspect of things,” Ono said. “As a kid, I really always thought that being creative and just being able to tell these crazy stories and create these little tunes always help me through hard times, whatever it may be. I think that this organization really helps these kids let their emotions out.”

Afternoon Briefing

Daily

Chicago Tribune editors’ top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon.

Between home schooling and Jasper’s therapy sessions, the story and illustrations took about two weeks to be completed. At the conclusion of Sing Me A Story projects, musicians reveal the final piece in a live performance for the family. In Silas and Jasper’s case, the Roosevelt students will give the composed piece to a youth band from Chicago’s Disney II Magnet School next year.

While the family heads back to North Carolina this month, they plan to return in the spring for the performance.

“It’s so exciting,” said Mitchell. “Those two had a good time together, and we’ll be able to share it with people.”

Money raised from Silas and Jasper’s song will go to the Ronald McDonald House, they said.

Atteberry said he wants to expand this opportunity for kids in need everywhere. What started as a way to impress a girl, who later became his wife, has become a mission. Becoming a father to three young kids himself has made the work of the organization all the more meaningful.

“I started this when I wasn’t a dad, but as a parent, it takes on a whole new life,” he said. “You see kids who’ve faced challenges that most adults hopefully will never ever see.”

joanderson@chicagotribune.com