Wendy Oxenhorn

Wendy Oxenhorn a.k.a. "The Barefoot Baroness," is the Executive Director & Vice Chairman of the Jazz Foundation of America, co-founder of Street News, and a blues harmonica player.

At the age of 14, Wendy Oxenhorn moved on her own to New York City, where she attended the School of American Ballet and danced with New York City Ballet.

When Oxenhorn was 17, a ballet career-ending knee injury drew her into depression when she was told by doctors that if she continued to dance, she would become crippled. This news prompted Oxenhorn to call a suicide hotline where she ended up consoling the counselor on the line, who was herself depressed. Oxenhorn started working at the suicide hotline three days later, thus beginning her career in the humanitarian arena.

In 1990, Oxenhorn co-founded the newspaper, Street News, with Hutchinson Persons, which provided employment and income for a homeless workforce. Oxenhorn recruited Fortune 500 CEOs and celebrities, built the infrastructure, marketing and fundraising for the organization, gaining coverage on the front pages of New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Herald Tribune as well as appearing on talk shows including Regis and Kathy Lee, CBS Nightline, TODAY Show, and others. Recruited donors included Malcolm Forbes, Cyndi Lauper, Clive Davis, Ben & Jerry, Thomas Mosser, New York Times President Lance Primis, and then White House Chief of Staff, John H. Sununu. At its peak, Street News employed over 2000 homeless men and women in New York City and had a circulation of 250,000. It is credited with being the first homeless sold newspaper, inspiring as many as 150 similar newspapers in major cities throughout the world.

In 1994 Oxenhorn started a Board of Education approved public school program called Children of Substance. Children of Substance was a support group that helped middle school aged girls cope with drug addicted and alcoholic parents. The program gathered these 12-year-old girls who suffered from Bulimia and depression, incest or suicide attempts, and brought them together in small meetings with guest speakers who were adult children of alcoholic parents. These supportive meetings gave the girls the courage to say out loud what was happening to them, to bond with one another and to realize they were no longer alone.

...
Wikipedia