Amy Winehouse’s family launches U.S. foundation to help young people

It was where Amy Winehouse made her U.S. debut performance in 2007, but on Wednesday Joe’s Pub in New York City was the setting for a different kind of milestone.

This time the late musician’s parents and brother came together to launch the U.S. branch of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, an organization dedicated to her memory that supports charities helping young people with challenges such as illness, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction.

Amy’s parents, Janis Winehouse Collins and Mitch Winehouse, are divorced but are working closely together along with Amy’s brother,  Alex, on the foundation activities. Mitch said it was one way for the family to come together and deal with the tragic loss.
         
“Heartbroken, yet my family, our family, has decided there’s only one way to deal with this. And that is roll our sleeves up and get on with the hard work, because really, we don’t know any other way,” he told audiences, including donors at Joe’s Pub.

“We choose to turn our grief into positive action and we need to help, we need to help children and young adults,” he added.

Winehouse was 27 when she died on July 23 last year, ending a promising career that was marred by highly publicized battles with drug and alcohol addiction.

The Back to Black singer, known for her beehive hairstyle and distinctive soulful voice, had high levels of alcohol — more than five times the legal driving limit — in her blood at the time of her death.

According to the Winehouse family, in the U.K. the foundation has already raised one million pounds. In the United States, where Amy’s mother was born, the family hopes to focus the foundation’s work, at least initially, on music therapy as a tool to help children and young adults.

During the event, Mitch sang a few numbers, including Meditation even as he reflected on Amy’s battle with addiction and her subsequent death.

Mitch told the event attendees that her ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil could not be blamed for her death and that while the two had a deeply troubled relationship, they also loved each other. He cited the story to illustrate the power of song and to explain why the foundation wanted to focus on music therapy.

“He (Blake) wasn’t responsible for her death. Only one person was responsible and that’s Amy. What happened was an accident, it’s her responsibility,” Mitch said. “This was a tortured, tortured relationship. And she said to me — that even in her worse moments — the power of song, it was like the power of prayer. She just found so much solace, if that’s the right word, and comfort in singing. And this is what, this is basically what we do.”

Janis and Mitch also talked about using the foundation to help other young people with the same problems that their daughter faced herself — drug and alcohol addiction.

“We feel that bringing the message of supporting drug rehabilitation facilities for young people is very important because again in the U.K. there are no facilities available whatsoever for under-18-year-olds. I mean it’s quite incredible. And even if you’re over eighteen, there’s hardly any facilities available,” Mitch said.

While Janis said that because she had first-hand experience with addiction battles through her daughter, she now wanted to use that knowledge and experience to help others.

The first donation from the U.S. branch of the Amy Winehouse Foundation went to the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Revenue from Mitch’s upcoming memoir about his daughter, Amy My Daughter, will also go towards the foundation. The book is slated for a June release.