NBA Player Kyle Kuzma Announces Partnership To Benefit Female Inmates In Flint, Michigan

The Kyle Kuzma Family Foundation’s long-term partnership aims to give female inmates resources to help them smoothly return to society.

Washington Wizards’ Kyle Kuzma is collaborating with the I.G.N.I.T.E. and R.I.S.E. reform programs based in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, to help female inmates.

Kyle Kuzma Family Foundation’s long-term partnership aims to update and refurbish living conditions for female inmates and to also offer them the resources they need to smoothly return to society, People reported.

I.G.N.I.T.E., though the Office of Genesee County Sheriff, aims to reverse the cycle of generational incarceration through education. R.I.S.E. Community Outreach is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving low-income residents in the inner-city communities of Flint.

“For me, as a kid growing up, it was easy because I didn’t think about those temptations or about being in poverty. I was a kid, and I just enjoyed basketball,” Kuzma told People. “This is my community. You’ve got these people that are in jail, people that I and others have relationships with, from my community as well, and when you think about inmates, jails, that’s usually a forgotten space in society.”

On Nov. 26, Kuzma gave a commencement speech at an I.G.N.I.T.E. graduation at Michigan’s Genessee County Jail “I think for me, it was all about acknowledging these women having accomplishments.” His mother, Karri, told People that her son “never ceases to amaze me.”

Kuzma was joined by his mother in celebrating the female inmates with gifts and clothing donations at a holiday party following the graduation.

“My experience today was amazing and really, very eye-opening,” Kuzma told People. “For us and our foundation just to be around the female inmates was very touching for us. Even to be a small part of it and seeing the impact of what the program meant to their growth and self-development was unbelievable.”

The NBA player’s Kyle Kuzma Family Foundation “strives to positively impact the lives of single mothers, and enhance the lives of their children,” according to the nonprofit’s website.