Award Winning Musicians Headline Concert Benefiting a Housing Project for Kids Battling Rare Disease

The Richard de Lone Special Housing Project (RDSHP) will host their 7th annual benefit concert Oct. 6, as the Mill Valley family continues to raise money and momentum for a group home concept that is close to their hearts.

Capping off one of Bay Area music lovers' favorite weekends, the Hardley Strictly Bluegrass event, RDSHP will host bluegrass, Americana and rockabilly musicians together for a post-festival-after-party, featuring Nick Lowe, Boz Scaggs, Buddy Miller, Loudon Wainwright III, Bill Kirchen, Jim Lauderdale, Caroline de Lone, and the RDSHP Rockers. 

Join in the fun while supporting the cause, Sunday, Oct. 6 at Bimbo’s 365 Club, 1025 Columbus Ave., San Francisco. Tickets are $50 and are available online or at the club box office Monday through Friday from 10am-4pm. A limited number of ringside tables may be available for $450, which include special seating for four.

What is the Richard de Lone Special Housing Project (RDSHP)?

RDSHP, was founded by Mill Valley native musician, Austin de Lone, and his wife Lesley, with the goal of building a state-of-the-art residential center for children and adults with a rare disease called Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). The non-profit was named for their son Richard, or Richie, who has battled the disability since birth.

“Richie, now 15, was diagnosed with the rare, genetically-random, chromosome mutation, two weeks after he was born,” explained Austin de Lone, “We created this non-profit five-years ago because we want to create a community that will foster a better environment for people living with this rare disability.”

Approximately 2,500 people with PWS are living in the United States, and it is said that the most telling symptom of the disease is chronic insatiable hunger.

“PWS people are never sated when they eat, they are constantly food seeking and driven to eat,” de Lone told Patch, “If given free reign, they would eat themselves into obesity, or worse, stomach burst. The painful part is their metabolism can only handle about 40% of a normally functioning system, or about 1000-calories a day, so they always feel deprived.”  

He explained that one concept of the project is to see an 8-10 acre community developed to accommodate all levels of treatment needed, giving patients as much freedom as they can have, in a safe, controlled environment, with hopes of completion before their son’s 18th birthday.

“The State and Federal disability programs support smaller group homes for non-specific diseases,” he said, “We want to create a supportive environment for 20-30 PWS people — with open space, controlled nutrition, exercise and education for each individual.”

de Lone has combined his life's passions in his efforts to bring make this concept a reality. 

After spending the 70’s traveling through Europe and the U.S. in a band called Eggs Over Easy, de Lone was a session musician with artists including Bonnie Raitt, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and others.

He says the music community has been “super supportive” of RDSHP, “My wife calls us the Church of Rock and Roll, we were even called the grandfathers of punk-rock in British magazine once.”

The group has reportedly already raised a fair amount of money since their inaugural concert in 2007, when friend and supporter, Elvis Costello, played with the Mill Valley native band, Clover.

Currently in Phase Two of development, the group has obtained their 501-C3, established a Board of Directors, and have begun working on the approval process with regional centers for funding and permits.

You can find out more, donate or help by going to www.RDSHP.org