Travis Scott plans to donate $5 million to several causes that are important to him. However, this is in the wake of the tragedy at Astroworld last November. The Cactus Jack head announced Project HEAL on Tuesday, Mar. 8, a series of community-based philanthropic initiatives aimed at helping youth.
Travis Scott Offers Assistance To HBCUs
Initially, Scott set to donate $1 million in scholarships to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Waymon Webster Scholarship Fund will provide $10,000 scholarships to HBCU seniors using Scott’s support. Seniors who have excelled academically, yet encountered financial difficulty, will receive this scholarship. As a result, they risk not graduating on time. The scholarships will assist 100 students in achieving their academic objectives.
“My grandfather was an educator who made a difference in thousands of young lives throughout his life,” Scott said of the initiative. “He is a major influence on me and countless others, whose dreams he believed in, whose hopes he invested in, and whose futures he made big. It’s in his spirit that we are creating projects and programs that will look to the future of our communities and create hope and excellence in as many lives as possible.”
Resources Are Coming For Young People With Mental Health Concerns
Secondly, the next component of the program focuses on offering resources to young people who have mental health concerns. Funding will also be provided to support hotlines and digital counseling. In addition, the Upper Echelon rapper will assist in providing complimentary activities to low-income families. Assisting with these activities is Houston-based public health expert Dr. Janice Beal. Beal is the Programming Director of “Well Being In Color,” a service for mental health education among students of color.
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Heal Program Provides Young Professionals with Nonprofit Space
Thirdly, the next program initiative in Travis Scott’s HEAL Program focuses on expanding Scott’s CACT.US Youth Design Center. According to the press release, the center will be “a nonprofit maker space for young artists, designers, tech innovators. Including free studio space, workspace, tool spaces, job and apprenticeship training, youth education and events.”
Finally, large-scale live events will be the subject of the fourth and last component. Specifically, Scott will fund the US Conference of Mayors Task Force of Event Safety. As an organization, this group represents stakeholders from various levels of government. Similarly, emergency response, event management, and public health sectors are working together to “effectively address the safety challenges faced by future large-scale events, which will culminate in a comprehensive report of recommendations,” according to the press release. A significant component of Scott’s HEAL program is its advocacy for this report. This will serve as a model for the future of mass-scale festivals in the future.
Consequently, this is a major effort in response to the tragedy at the Astroworld Festival. However, this tragedy resulted in the deaths of ten people and the injury of hundreds. Since then, Scott has received thousands of lawsuits, including 400 consolidated into one. In February, it was revealed that those 400 cases represented almost 2,800 alleged victims.
Below is Travis Scott’s statement concerning Project HEAL.
Written by: Nikiya Biggs
