Travis Scott lay low after the tragedy at the Astroworld festival in November. In the four months since, the rapper has been interviewed about the incident, celebrated the birth of his second child with Kylie Jenner, and received legal action over an allegedly stolen cover. Now he benefits society. According to TMZ, Travis has announced Project HEAL, a charitable initiative that will launch community initiatives. In addition to the announcement, Travis will also donate $5 million to this cause.
The new project will support students, creative people, music lovers and concertgoers. $1 million of his donation will go towards HBCU scholarships. This will be done through his Waymon Webster Scholarship Fund, which provides support to black students.
The remaining $4 million will go to the Project HEAL initiative, where it will be split across multiple targets. One includes creating a free mental health program for children led by Houston-based behavioral health expert Dr. Janice Beal. Travis will also expand his creative design program through his Cactus Jack Foundation through a seven-figure expansion of the CACT.US Youth Design Center at TXRX Labs in Houston. The center is described in a press release as “a non-profit workspace for young artists, designers, tech innovators, including free studio space, work space, tool spaces, work and apprenticeship training, youth education, and events.”
Travis will also donate money to the US Conference of Mayors Task Force on Event Safety to help protect fans at concerts. This is part of a collaborative effort to ensure maximum safety at large scale events and will result in a “comprehensive report with recommendations”. In a Project HEAL press release, Travis Scott shared a statement about the new undertaking.
“My grandfather was an educator who changed the lives of thousands of young people in his lifetime,” he said. “He had a great influence on me and countless other people whose dreams he believed in, whose hopes he invested in and whose future he made big. It is in his spirit that we create projects and programs that look to the future of our communities and instill hope and excellence in as many lives as possible.”