Occupation of LeBron James-funded 'I Promise' village to start this week

Just about two years ago on 30th July 2018, LeBron James welcomed the first student into the I Promise School in his hometown. Now, his foundation will be welcoming families into a newly renovated space that aims to provide safe and stable housing.

LeBron James Family Foundation opens I Promise village

Every year, around 2000 students in the district of Akron fall prey to homelessness due to poverty, according to the district's official figures. Students of the I Promise school largely belong to this category of the population, underprivileged and unable to afford private schooling or even government schooling in many cases.

We’re in the business of changing lives and we’re so proud to have our 330 Ambassadors & I PROMISE students understand what it means to give of themselves for something bigger. Family move-in day is right around the corner at the I PROMISE Village! #WeAreFamily pic.twitter.com/2OSPLDLCCF

— LeBron James Family Foundation (@LJFamFoundation) July 15, 2020

Today, the LeBron James Family Foundation unveiled the I Promise village by Graduate Hotels. The building, which was built in 1923, was purchased by Chicago based Graduate Hotels and completely renovated at their cost, according to Campbell.

It was then donated to the foundation on July 6. It has some one-bedroom and some two-bedroom apartments. In addition, there is a community meeting room, a community dining room, a room the foundation calls their “work space” and another they call “play space.”

I Promise School Grand Opening Celebration With LeBron James

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We’re almost ready to GO at the I Promise Village! 👀🏡 #WeAreFamily pic.twitter.com/TH2ZJKXLy0

— I PROMISE School (@IPROMISESchool) July 21, 2020

This renovated apartment building is just a couple of blocks away from LeBron's I Promise school. It aims to serve as cost-free transitional housing for families and students in need.

The I PROMISE Village, which has 18 units available for families, will also provide learning opportunities and resources for families. This will help them to work through the challenges they may be facing. The LeBron James Family Foundation will ask the families residing in the Village to set some goals, and will hold them accountable to their pursuit of those aims.

Michelle Campbell of the LeBron James Foundation said:

Our director of the Family Resource Center, Ms. Vick, learned that a lot of our students are living they are homeless don’t have a safe place to live lay their head. So if you are a student and you are sitting in class and you are worried about where are mom and I are going to sleep tonight, how in the world are you ever going to learn? It’s just basic security, so when we learned that, we learned that we needed to answer that

LeBron James has always been one of the biggest donors and social workers in the NBA. Making children's education his mission reflects very positively on his legacy.

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