Isiah Thomas: Mary’s Court Foundation

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Isiah Thomas experienced his first Draft Day when he was just six years old.

In the neighborhood that he was from, ‘Draft Day’ was a day when members of the Vice Lords street gang came to recruit some of his brothers at their home on Congress Street.

”We want your boys,” the gang leader told Thomas’s mother. ”They can’t walk around here and not be in no gang.”

”There’s only one gang around here, and that’s the Thomas gang,” she said, ”and I lead that.”

“If you don’t bring those boys out, we’ll get ‘em in the streets,” he said.

“Get off my porch,” she demanded, returning with a shotgun, ”or I’ll blow you ‘cross the Expressway.”

This incident just scraps the iceberg on the lengths that Mary Thomas had to go to protect her children; all nine of them. But Mary’s experience as a single mother with a limited income was a common one on the rough streets of Chicago’s Westside.

The percentage of households headed by single mothers that are in poverty is 31.6 percent, but that percentage doesn’t take into account the large number of single mothers who live just above the poverty line but still struggle to provide basic needs for their children.

Behind every statistic on single mothers lies a story – the story of a poor person who has to overcome barriers to gain access to quality education, nourishment or healthcare. Mary Thomas isn’t just aware of this fact; she’s lived through it.

But her youngest son, Isiah, was the hope of the family. He scored a scholarship to a private Catholic high school in a suburb an hour and a half away that included three transfers and a mile and a half walk. Isiah received an athletic scholarship to Bobby Knight’s Indiana team, and was named the MVP in the NCAA Tournament in 1981.

Despite some initial resistance from Mary, who wanted him to finish his college degree, he left school to play for the Detroit Pistons, the team that had offered him a four-year, $1.6 million contract.

“The most satisfying thing for me since turning pro is when I go to my mother’s house. The bills are paid. When she goes to the closet, she can choose a dress to wear, rather than have to wear the only one in it,” Isiah said. “And there’s food in the refrigerator all the time. I remember when I was growing up that much of the time I never even went into the kitchen. There was no reason to. There was nothing there.”

Isiah Thomas had a successful NBA career, averaging 20 ppg, and 11 apg in his career, making the all-NBA first team three times en route to guiding the last-place Detroit Pistons to back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990.

Yet Isiah’s legacy extended beyond basketball. He was a respected leader within his team and within the league, and was elected as President of the NBA Players Association (NBAPA) in 1988, a position he served through 1994. He continued as a coach and executive with the Continental Basketball Association, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, and the New York Knicks, as well as serving as an analyst for NBATV and being a regular contributor to NBA.com.

But more than all that, Isiah gave back to the kids who needed help. “Every time you go back and help kids, you always see a little bit of yourself because you realize that you weren’t too far from that,” Isiah said.

And so Mary’s Court Foundation was born.

Founded by Isiah, and named after his mother Mary, the organization strives to create a model for schools and communities that inspires academic success, promotes good health, encourages housing and economic development, and builds safe communities, with the focus especially on the economically disadvantaged families in the communities of Garfield Park and Lawndale on the West Side of Chicago.

Isiah Thomas describes himself as “blessed to have graduated from every level of his educational experience,” while recognizing that too many other poor youth and black athletes have a very different trajectory from his own.

Isiah and Mary’s Court donated $50,000 to Florida International University’s First Generation Scholarship, an amount that will be matched by the First Generation Scholarship program. “We are proud to provide critical scholarship support to students at FIU who will be the first in their families to earn a college degree,” Isiah said.

This amount will go a long way in FIU, where approximately 40 percent of students will be the first generation in their family to attain a college degree. While the majority of these students are eligible for a First Gen Scholarship, the demand far exceeds the supply, leaving the award an elusive one for many students.

Mary’s Court Foundation believes that by enhancing youths’ access to academic enrichment programs and recreation they hope to improve the health and well-being of children and families, thus they encourage kids to live healthy and more active lives and try to improve the academic success of every child.

The foundation was also the beneficiary of the sold-out South Florida All-Star Classic, an event organized by Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh at the U.S Century Bank Arena on FIU’s campus.

In 2012, Isiah Thomas was recognized by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boys & Girls Club of Chicago. They honored him with their annual King Legacy Award, an award given to individuals who have fostered the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through their community contributions.

Despite the personal accolades and acknowledgment of his philanthropic efforts, the legacy left by Isiah lives in those he has touched. Those in need.

”[The Isiah Thomas Scholarship at Indiana] is for someone who needs the money otherwise they’d be kicked out,” Isiah said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re black or white, or what religion or background. It’s just need.”

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