NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A special performance at a downtown Nashville music venue brought together local musicians and community members to support those battling a fatal genetic disorder.
Chelsea Baumann has spent about 4 years working nights at music venue 3rd and Lindsley. By day, she was completing her master's degree in social work, with her most recent internship at the Vanderbilt Huntington's Disease Clinic.
"I was completing my master's in social work, and my most recent internship was at the Vanderbilt Huntington's Disease Clinic," Baumann said.
On Sunday, those two worlds came together.
"Music just brings people together. So, I was just grateful to be able to have the opportunity to put this together," Baumann said.
The benefit concert raised money and awareness for Huntington's disease, a fatal genetic disorder. Local musicians and the venue donated their time to make it happen.
"It's a movement disorder, so it's characterized by involuntary movements called chorea that basically get in the way of people functioning," said Spencer Diehl, a social worker and co-director of the Vanderbilt Huntington’s Disease Center.
Actor and comedian Will Forte, an advocate with a personal connection to Huntington's disease, sent a special video message to the crowd.
"Our family knows very well the devastation that this disease can cause... but we also know the support that comes from the community that the HDSA has built," Forte said.
The funds raised from the concert will go to the local chapter of the Huntington's Disease Society of America.
Reagan Sellers, president of the Tennessee chapter, lost her aunt to Huntington's disease.
"We were caregivers for over a decade, and personally, you know, it, it still affects my family, because I have two cousins at risk for the disease," Sellers said.
Sellers said children of people with the disorder have a 50-50 chance of having the gene that causes it.
Her sister Demi served as emcee for the concert and has made Huntington's disease awareness her platform as Miss Lincoln County Volunteer.
The concert was a fundraiser, but it also served a purpose of bringing people in the middle Tennessee area impacted by this disorder together.
"To support one another, to build and bridge community to raise money for efforts that support education, research, and engagement," Sellers said.
The lineup for the concert included performances from Jake Burman and Company, Henry Cruz Band, Wendy Moten, and Judy Paster.
Click here for more information about Huntington’s disease.
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