HOME Announces 'HOME Cookin' For The Holidays' Virtual Benefit

Austin-based nonprofit HOME, Housing Opportunities for Musicians and Entertainers, announces their annual benefit, "HOME COOKIN' FOR THE HOLIDAYS," taking place on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. This year's benefit will be a virtual broadcast taking place the week following Thanksgiving from 7 - 9 p.m. and will feature music from Delbert McClinton, Ruthie Foster, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Max Frost, Shinyribs, Ray Benson, Marcia Ball, Band of Heathens, Jackie Venson, Sunny Sweeney, Kathy Mattea, Susan Tedeschi, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Christopher Cross, Kathy Valentine, Sir Woman, CJ Chenier, Patrice Pike, Kelly Willis, Shawn Colvin, Dion Dimucci, Dave Alvin, Los Lobos, Amy Helm, Terry Allen with John Doe, Bob Schneider and more to be announced.

In addition to musical performances, HOME is excited to announce they will be bringing back their cooking segment that they started at last year's event. During the cooking segment portion of the benefit, event viewers will get to join several artists from the lineup in cooking up their favorite holiday dishes. The benefit will be donation-based and streamed via the HOME Facebook page and also via Youtube. HOME encourages their performing artists to promote the Benefit stream on their personal pages as well. Special large donors will receive pre-event packages to enjoy during the event. For more information on HOME, or to watch or rewatch the footage from HOME Cookin' For The Holidays 2020, please visit www.homeaustin.org.

"As a founding board member of HOME, I have been delighted to watch our non-profit grow from helping one person to 23 full time clients," said Nancy Coplin, President of HOME. "We have helped many others during COVID-19 times with emergency grants. Home Cookin' For The Holidays is a wonderful and fun way to raise money to support our mission. This is our second virtual show and it just gets better and better."

"HOME is growing and helping more of our Austin musicians every year," said Marcia Ball, Founding Board Member. "Our first HOME Cookin' For The Holidays was a great success and we're working on topping that with more artists, more food, and more fun. It's all about keeping our musical community secure so we can continue to enjoy their creativity and honor their legacy by showing love and support for those who have given us so much."

"It's been awesome to watch how HOME started out as a little get together at Marcia Ball's house over gumbo and conversation, to figuring out how to help our living icons in the area," said Ruthie Foster, Advisory Board Member. "There are so many who entertain night after night here and beyond and yet come home and still aren't able to pay their own bills. This is where HOME has stepped in; to help. As a veteran I couldn't think of a better way to say to our musicians and entertainers 'thank you for your service!'"

HOME was founded over nine years ago by influential women in the Austin music community, performers and industry professionals alike, as a means to help a fellow musician, Miss Lavelle White, after she moved back to Austin and had no place to stay and no performances lined up. These remarkable women (see board below) recognized the need for there to be a resource for aging musicians and stepped in to establish HOME. Through the nonprofit, they are able to provide financial grant assistance to musicians over the age of 55. They currently have twenty three full time clients and plan to add more to their monthly support through 2022. With continued support and donations, HOME hopes to continue adding to their COVID-19 Emergency Grant funding, which includes $500 one-time relief grants for rent and utilities for musicians over 55. Thus far, they have given out approximately 160 of these $500 grants to help with rent and utilities, resulting in $80,000 in grants.