It is well established that community music engages disadvantaged groups of people in collaborative and creative music-making, offering participants opportunities to explore their abilities, express themselves, communicate, and address both personal and collective needs aiming for a shared (extra)musical goal. One such group comprises children residing in child protection and residential care facilities. These are minors who have experienced adverse childhood experiences and their guardianship and care are assigned, either through court order or at parental request, to state or non-profit organizations. In most cases, children living in care constitute a heterogeneous group characterized by limited social skills and difficulties in adapting to communal living. These challenges often manifest in conflicts, instances of aggression, and resistance to coexistence, even within the shared space of a single room. Moreover, prolonged residence in these settings is frequently associated with negative, and in many cases irreversible, consequences for their socio-emotional development and social cohesion. In this community-based research project, 15 children between the ages of 6 and 13 residing in a Greek child welfare organization participated in 23 weekly sessions from December 2024 to June 2025. Children had the opportunity to share and enjoy music with others in any way they felt comfortable, socialize through music and get involved in active music-making through songwriting, singing, drum circle and musical improvisation. Data was collected from participatory observation, focus groups with children and focus groups with staff members (psychologists, social workers, educators), critical friend’s field diary, children’s reflective notes from each session and a sociogram mapping children’s relationships before and after the program. Research objectives and methodological tools were openly discussed with staff members and children, reaching a mutual agreement, making necessary adjustments, and ensuring that the research respected the community, as demanded by a community-based research methodology. The results revealed that children demonstrated an increased willingness to collaborate and a stronger desire to spend more time together, both during the sessions and in their everyday interactions. Through common music-making, they uncovered shared interests, learned to appreciate and respect each other’s need for self-expression, even when opinions differed, and gradually developed the ability to share leadership and harmonize their personal ideas through participatory music-making. In conclusion, community music practice can support children in overcoming their differences and developing pathways to coexistence, simultaneously preserving their individuality and personal beliefs, thereby contributing to a more inclusive and meaningful music education for traumatized children.