Ferguson church shelters music outreach program

From St. Louis-

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Ferguson received a $2,500 grant from the Missouri Humanities Council  to support its Strings Attached project. The project connects youth, ages 5 to 17, with music education using American roots music. They learn to play instruments such as guitar, ukulele, dobro, banjitar and mandolin

It all goes back to Ray Charles.

Project founder Steve Housewright, a St. Louis native, began working in an after-school program in Los Angeles in 1999, as Terry Perkins reported for The Beacon. This was a program sponsored by Ray Charles called the Sir Charles Blues Lab. When Housewright moved back to the St. Louis area, he founded a similar program in 2009 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church with the support of Father Steve Lawler, who had started community outreach programs under the umbrella name “The Vine.” They started with guitars, hence the name “Strings Attached."

More here-

http://www.stlamerican.com/religion/local_religion/ferguson-church-shelters-music-outreach-program/article_68a5d7f4-8b3e-11e6-8964-b3cba883d974.html