The New Life Project
Inaugural Concert, featuring Kanye West, Common, Musiq and The X-ecutioners, is
scheduled to kick off on November 5th at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.
The concert, sponsored
by AOL and Hot 97, will celebrate the launch of The New Life Project, an organization
whose goal is to end homelessness in the United States.
The project’s
conception goes back to early 2000 when attorney Michael Fox met Billy Rorie,
a 60-year-old homeless man, on the streets of New York.
As they developed
a friendship, Rorie revealed that he had written poems about his experience
as a homeless man for over 15 years.
Fox then became
dedicated to raise consciousness of homelessness in America, by turning Rorie’s
poems into songs.
When
Fox was riding the subway a few weeks later, he met Corey Glover, lead singer
of the Grammy award-winning band Living Colour.
Inspired by the
project, Glover recorded a song entitled “From Dusk Till Dawn,”
about the struggles of surviving the streets during that time.
For the concert,
the artists will create and perform original songs based on the poems and stories
of people who, like Rorie, faced the realities of homelessness.
The New Life Project’s
mission is to distribute the funds from the concert to service providers and
advocacy groups that are most effective at reducing and eventually eliminating
the problem of homelessness.
Less than a generation
ago, homelessness was not rampant in America, but according to statistics, one
in every 100 Americans now experience homelessness annually and a total of three
to four million people over the course of a year.
Celebrities, music
and entertainment executives are expected to attend the concert as a show of
support.
Billy Crystal,
Larry David, Al Green, Q Tip and Kanye West are among the renowned honorary
board members.
Tickets are available
at all ticketmaster outlets and online at www.ticketmaster.com.
