Celtics star Jayson Tatum gets $1 million gift from SoFi to help people buy homes in St. Louis

abcnews.go.com:

Boston Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum announced Tuesday a gift of $1 million from the financial services company SoFi to his nonprofit

Jayson Tatum remembers how it felt when he first bought a home.

“It didn’t seem real,” said the Boston Celtics power forward, a five-time NBA All-Star set to start for the Eastern Conference in this year's All-Star Game on Sunday.

Tatum told The Associated Press in an interview how he wants to help others in his hometown of St. Louis get that feeling themselves and buy their own homes. He said financial services company SoFi has given the Jayson Tatum Foundation $1 million to help do that.

The gift announced Tuesday will establish the SoFi Generational Wealth Fund at the foundation, which will grant funds to homebuyers to help with a down payment.

“I can’t stress enough how excited I am just knowing how many lives and the families that we can impact," Tatum said. «And I can only imagine how much this would have impacted myself and my mom growing up.”

Tatum, 25, was raised by his mother, Brandy Cole-Barnes, who was 19 when he was born.

“Me and my mom, we didn’t know about investments or savings accounts when we were growing up. But obviously when I got to the NBA and started to make money, we had to ask questions and learn about things,” Tatum said. “And it was always important for me, even when I was younger. I just knew I wanted to give back and help people that looked like me and grew up like me.”

Established in 2017, the same year he was drafted by the Celtics, Tatum's nonprofit hosts toy drives, back-to-school giveaways and basketball camps in St. Louis. It also offers scholarships to St. Louis high school students along with mentoring. The new fund is part of a program that