Hope. Access. Opportunity
To impact the world by addressing the socio-economic and mental health issues that plague the inner cities by partnering with programs and organizations to provide increased access to services and opportunities to improve lives.
To give hope to children and families in underserved communities by facilitating exposure to opportunities and access to care and resources.
Creating measurable opportunities through our partnerships and events to directly impact UD Kids, as well as our mental health and community accessibility initiatives.
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Most people know Udonis Haslem, "UD." as the current Vice President of Basketball Development for the Miami Heat, former Captain of the Miami Heat, three-time NBA champion, the "OG" and "Mr. 305," who is also a successful businessman and philanthropist who has segued into broadcasting post-retirement. But what endears him to the people of Miami, is his authenticity. UD has never forgotten where he comes from and has consistently turned every traumatic experience in his own life or in the lives of those close to him, into opportunities to help others.
Born into poverty in the Liberty City housing projects, UD experienced hardships as a child and knew what it meant to not have hope. Through the grace of God, he did have a few good angels in his life, the talent to play basketball, and the opportunity at a better life. Mindful of his angels, his talent, and his opportunities, he worked hard to always be better, because he felt an obligation to always help those in need. It was at the very beginning of his NBA career, when tragedy struck, and a friend of the family passed away from a brain aneurysm, leaving behind her young children, when UD and his late stepmother, Barbara Wooten, stepped in to immediately provide school supplies and uniforms for the children. Unbeknownst to them at this time, this was the beginning of what became the Udonis Haslem Children's Foundation, also known as UD Kids.
UD Kids was initially fully self-funded by a young UD, whose NBA contract was not yet even secure. However, the family brought joy to inner city children in situations quite like UD's childhood by gifting them toys and school supplies. After two decades of organic growth, the Foundation has secured partners with similar values and has been able to reach even more children as we have expanded our goals to include more programming to address broader needs that affect our children.
In 2022, UD Kids became The Udonis Haslem Foundation to widen the scope of our impact. UD Kids will continue to be one of our pillars as we now move into the education space by leveling up our children, specifically in the areas of coding and robotics. The UD Foundation also focuses on mental health initiatives, and we have made a push for further community accessibility programs such as low-income housing and minority and women-owned small business development.
We believe that every person should be afforded the grace of compassion regardless of their circumstance.
We uphold the value of integrity in all our interactions by always being honest, transparent, and trustworthy.
We will never stop being true to who we are and will never deviate from our mission and vision by forgetting who and why we serve.
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