MainStreet Bailout concert to benefit DC foreclosure victims

May 9, 7:36 PM · Raquel Gordon – DC Music Examiner

The foreclosure crisis has hit too many sour notes in the Washington, DC housing industry for Washington, DC officials to withstand. In order to hit the right note again, The MainStreet Bailout, a group of Washington, DC’s music industry movers and shakers, are rallying for a benefit concert on the National Mall to raise funds for homeowners in threat of foreclosure.

Lorna Sammoury, the Washington Metropolitan region’s office manager of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), teamed up with the Real Hip-Hop Network, Grammy® nominated artist Raheem DeVaughn, Atonn Muhammad (President/CEO Real Hip Hop Network), and Herkules (TV and radio personality from WPGC 95.5 DC) to lure Hollywood’s elite, music legends, and celebrities to DC in September 2009.

The mega-project is focused on allowing musicians in all music genres to work together to heal the nation’s social crisis. Though the music entertainers are yet to be determined, the promoters aim to invite the biggest stars to participate.

While event co-chair DeVaughn finds the government moved swiftly to get the U.S. economy back on track, he notes “…there are many who are angry that the Stimulus package has allocated billons of dollars to major corporations and very little of these funds have immediately reached the wallets of mainstream America.”

Inspired by President Obama’sTo Be the Change” message, the benefit concert organizers recognize that the people have to do something to help themselves because the stimulus package provided by the government does not have far enough reach to pull homeowners out of the housing crisis. On a higher note, DeVaughn chimes in, “We as Americans have to play our part in saving ourselves.”

Leading up to the September benefit concert, donations will be taken online and through text messaging programs. Also, a promotional CD is expected to be released. The raised funds will be used to award grants to homeowners in need in the hopes of providing them with adequate foreclosure relief.

The Real Hip-Hop Network (RHN) is a subsidiary of SSM Media Ventures, Inc. RHN toots its horn as being the first 24 hour cable network dedicated exclusively to hip-hop music and culture. The Washington, DC based network currently broadcasts to approximately 22 million U.S. households.