Local Musician Earns Peace of Mind Through Support from Health Alliance for Austin Musicians

Four years ago, Kelsi Creek, 32, enrolled in HAAM, securing health coverage through Sendero Health Plans. Soon enough, it was a lifesaver

Kelsi Creek used to believe that affordable health care was a myth.

Perhaps, she thought, it was the cost of playing music for a living.

But when the guitarist and singer from Louisiana moved to Austin in 2018, things changed when she learned of the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), a non-profit organization which offers health care options to Austin’s working musicians, music teachers, and DJs with low income.

Creek enrolled with HAAM in 2022, securing primary coverage through Sendero Health Plans—which is part of the Central Health system—that would ensure her support in the event of an accident. Two years later, Creek’s astute planning made a difference.

“My car was totaled,” the 32-year-old Baton Rouge native said of a serious car accident she was involved in. “I got like four herniated discs in my neck. My sternum was fractured. And then my lung was scarred from the seat belt, so I couldn’t fully inflate my lung for eight to nine months.”

In hindsight, Creek believes HAAM offered exactly what she needed in a time of crisis.

“When I finally got health care, I thought to myself, ‘This is life-changing and saving,’” she said. “I would have been obliterated (financially). I would have taken a big hit.”

On September 23, Creek will perform at Central Health’s office–one of many locations around Austin (link to HAAM Day page)– during the annual HAAM Day Music Festival, a one-day, all-local event which features over 250 artists across Austin. According to event organizers, it’s unofficially the biggest one-day festival in the world.

“(Music) allows me to connect with others,” she said. “…I think you forget how small the world is sometimes, and it’s a really great way to put things into perspective and have a community.”

Providing Help When Needed

Creek, a proud queer artist and staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, says HAAM provides a vital resource for musicians in Travis County.

The organization can connect them to health care options such as primary, dental, vision, and hearing care, along with assistance for health insurance premiums. HAAM, which was founded in 2005, partners with the Central Health System through Sendero Health Plans, a community-based health plan.

Over many years, the organizations have worked together to help Travis County musicians with low income enroll with health care coverage through ACA. As a payor of health care subsidies for Sendero as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Central Health has invested over $1 million into the HAAM plan over Fiscal Year 2025. It has additionally provided investment in a Community Health Initiatives Fund. In two decades, HAAM has secured over $200 million in health care services to its enrolled members. That kind of access doesn’t exist everywhere, Creek says.

“I think anyone doing their own thing, or anyone in a creative field or in a self-employed field, it feels like sometimes there aren’t many resources that you can lean on, to feel like you’re not alone in this thing,” Creek said.

How HAAM Stepped In

That certainly was true during Creek’s car accident, which sent her to the hospital and then to multiple follow-ups. Sendero Health Plans covered her Emergency Department visit, along with much more, including a recent epidural steroid injection. “The majority of the reason why I stay in Austin is because of access to health care,” she said.

That peace of mind has allowed Creek, an indie and alternative rock performer who sings top 40 covers along with original music during her sets, to connect with fans across Travis County. Music allowed her the kind of freedom she once didn’t have.

“Trying to create a space or an environment where you are reminded that you are enough, that you’re loved, that you’re cared for and that there’s a community around if you ever need someone to lean on,” she said. “That’s been a big part of my music.”

Building Community

Creek now serves on HAAM’s advisory committee for member musicians—a role that has even taken her to Capitol Hill.

“Going into spaces and kind of advocating for yourself and the people you care about,” she said.

This past year, she was one of the main acts for Baton Rouge’s Pride Festival. Her name was splashed on a billboard and featured in the local newspaper. Her parents attended the show, and she even played original music during her set. Creek drove seven hours to the event and felt supported throughout the entire process.

Because health care access wasn’t just a hope anymore.

For Creek, it was finally a reality.

“For me, it felt super validating to go back and have that kind of show and it be expressed in those different ways,” she said. “It felt like, ‘OK, I’m not crazy for doing this (music thing).’”