Greensboro College's Healing Blues Project Delivers $9,000 to the Interactive Resource Center

From left: Storyteller Shannon Stewart; Ted Efremoff, assistant

professor of art at Greensboro College; Michelle Kennedy,

executive director, Interactive Resource Center; Dave Fox,

professor of music, Greensboro College; and

Chip Berry, director of development, ArtsGreensboro.

"GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Greensboro College participants in The Healing Blues Project today delivered a check for $9,000 to the Interactive Resource Center, a day center in downtown Greensboro that serves people who are homeless.

The check is the first of many payments the project hopes to make as it raises money to benefit the IRC and raise awareness and understanding of homelessness and related issues.

"We are grateful for this and for how far out The Healing Blues Project has stepped" in raising awareness, said Michelle Kennedy, executive director of the IRC. "Thank you so much!"

The project was co-founded almost a year ago by Ted Efremoff, assistant professor of art at Greensboro College, and Dave Fox, professor of music at the college.

The project teamed local homeless people, called "storytellers," with local musicians to turn the storytellers' lives into blues songs. The songs were recorded, with proceeds from the sales of CDs and from several live performances going to the IRC.

More live performances are being planned, and more than 350 copies of the CD have been sold to date. Copies of the CD can be ordered online

In addition to faculty, staff, and students of Greensboro College, project co-sponsors and major contributors have included ArtsGreensboro, the Open Art Society, the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, and Elsewhere Living Museum.

Individuals or organizations wishing to co-sponsor the project may contact Efremoff at 336-272-7102, ext. 5312, or email him at ted.efremoff@greensboro.edu.

Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and, spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.

Founded in 1838 and located near downtown Greensboro, the college enrolls about 1,250 students from 32 states, the District of Columbia and 24 nations in its undergraduate liberal-arts program and four master's degree programs. In addition to rigorous academics and a well-supported Honors program, the school features a 16-sport NCAA Division III athletic program and dozens of service and recreational opportunities."

- A Press Release