CMT News

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Wayne will begin the new year by embarking on a solo walk from Nashville to Phoenix to call attention to the plight of the homeless and to raise money for HomeBase Youth Services, an Arizona-based nonprofit organization that assists homeless youth. Wayne plans to launch his "Meet Me Halfway" campaign on Jan. 1. Wayne grew up in foster and group homes and was occasionally homeless before being adopted at age 16. Regarding his fundraising walk, he said, "It's going to be cold, rainy and maybe even snowing, and that ground I sleep on at night is going to be really hard. But that's what the homeless are dealing with each and every winter they go without a home of their own. Our country is too great for us to have people who are suffering so. And events of the past 12 to 14 months have increased the number of people -- especially children and young adults -- without a safe place to sleep. We as a nation have got to end homelessness, and we've got to help these kids."