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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 former Captain of the Miami Heat, a three-time NBA champion, the longest-tenured player in the NBA at this time, “the OG,” and “Mr. 305.” But what endears him to the people of Miami, is his authenticity. UD has never forgotten where he comes from and he 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 Liberty City, 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 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 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 almost two decades of organic growth, the foundation has secured partners with similar values and has been able to reach even more children and expand 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 our scope of 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 will also focus on mental health initiatives, especially as they relate to criminal justice reform and there will be a push for further community accessibility programs such as low-income housing, financial literacy, and minority owned small businesses.
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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