Kim Draheim Uses Music as a Tool to Help Teens Prosper and Grow

By Joe Sarnicola

 

Kim Draheim of Seneca Falls has used his music to entertain people for more than 50 years.

He has also used his music to help teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds heal and grow into mature adults. He has worked in various positions at juvenile residential facilities for more than 30 years.

Within a year of starting employment, he persuaded the administration to let him implement a program where he would teach interested residents the basics of music, how to play an instrument and how to work cooperatively with each other.

Although he is now semi-retired, Draheim still leads the program one day a week at the Monroe County campus of Hillside Children’s Center.

Originally founded as the Rochester Orphan Asylum in 1837 to meet the needs of vulnerable children, Hillside now provides residential and non-residential youth and family support services across Upstate New York, from Rochester to Binghamton.

The organization’s website, under the heading “Values,” posts, “Hillside utilizes high-quality, evidence-based/informed practices, seeks input from employees, and strives for continuous improvement in order to achieve the best possible results and outcomes.”

This perspective is what made Draheim’s music program possible.

“I would see which of the clients were interested in the program and from there we would try to start playing like a band,” he said.

As the program evolved over the years, the teens would leave the campus or lose interest and new members would join.

In the early stages of the program, he would teach the residents how to play songs by established bands, called cover tunes. Eventually he broke the rehearsals into two separate groups. The newer members would learn the cover songs and the more capable ones would work on original material.

“I remember one client who wrote lyrics to a song called ‘Christmas in a Place That Isn’t Home.’ It was quite touching,” he said.

Some of the instruments and other musical equipment were purchased at a great discount from Mike Speno, owner of Speno Music in Auburn, who has been very supportive of the project. He even worked with Draheim to allow residents who were leaving the facility to be able to purchase quality instruments of their own at an affordable price. As a special thank you, the band once held a special concert for Speno and his family.

Draheim readily admits the program was only a success because he had other staff members help him, in addition to the support of the more musical clients.

“The band we ran at Hillside had frequent turnover, so we would have to start over again. I heard there was a new girl on campus who could sing. I would hear that a lot, but it wasn’t always true. But this girl really could sing. We also needed a bass player, so she was it. She picks things up quickly,” he said.

That girl is Antonia Luckina who has since left the campus and is now a staff member at the Auburn campus, and a co-facilitator of the music program along with Draheim at Monroe. She has also worked at summer camps teaching young girls how to play and perform music.

Prior to working with her, Jake Perry (The Jake), a fellow staff member, worked along with Draheim.

“The program always ran better when I had a partner and Jake filled that spot,” Draheim said. “Now Antonia is following in those steps.”

Draheim, Perry and Luckina, along with two other former Hillside clients and program members — Connor Godden and Craig Kiesznowski — now play in a part-time band called Boomslang.

Godden explained his part in the program — “I was 15 at Hillside. I had a guitar and I asked Kim to tune it and then I joined the program. I have been playing with him for a few years now and I recently joined Boomslang. At 25, I’m the old man from Hillside in the band.”

Draheim added, “A boomslang is a very deadly snake. But I just thought it had a cool sounding name. The kids at Hillside would tend to withdraw if they had a bad day. These three didn’t. Even now, I have had to prove that my work with them, as former clients, is educational or therapeutic.”

Luckina said, “I have loved music since I was a kid. I pretended I was playing, but I didn’t know how to play until Kim taught me.”

The program was more than just a simple music class. Kiesznowski, who plays guitar, said, in the company of the others, he wanted to share something he said he had never told anyone before.

“I was seriously lost. I didn’t think I had any talent. I was losing trust in people. Kim was there when I needed someone,” he said. “I ended up gaining brothers and sisters. Antonia has given me confidence. I recently graduated from Cayuga Community College and I’ve learned there is more to life than I thought.”

He is currently helping his father with construction projects.

Draheim’s successful band projects were not limited to rehearsal time at the Hillside campuses. He has hosted several performances that raised money for the program featuring members of the program and a separate group of residents who were part of a group called the Hillside Youth Voice Band.

In 2019, working with professor Roy Stein of Nazareth University, Draheim and the Youth Voice Band recorded original songs in a music studio and in 2016 the group was invited by Cornell University to perform at the Residential Child Care Project International Conference.

In a statement to Hillside about his program Draheim wrote, “I am proud of what I accomplish with what I give these kids. And nothing helps me do my job better than never losing sight of what they give to me.”