NEW YORK – The NBA today announced that Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young is the winner of the February NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente in recognition of ongoing efforts to normalize the conversation around mental health and promote overall well-being in Atlanta and Oklahoma.  The monthly honor recognizes a player who best demonstrates the passion that the league and NBA players share for giving back to their communities.

Founded in 2019, the Trae Young Family Foundation was formed with the goal of raising awareness, resources and support around mental health issues, specifically for children and adults experiencing depression, anxiety, and PTSD as a result of cyber and social media bullying.  As part of their efforts to inspire greater well-being, the Trae Young Family Foundation donated $4 million to establish and build The Young Family Athletic Center (YFAC) in his native Norman, Oklahoma, which began breaking ground in 2021.  The facility will provide children a safe space for recreation, education and wellness, and afford every family in Norman access to the facility and the opportunities the Young family envisions for the community through new scholarships.

In addition, Young supported the Hawks’ new partnership with Silence the Shame, a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating mental health stigma, reducing health disparities and improving suicide rates among vulnerable populations.  To tip off the campaign, he joined singer-songwriter Chlöe in a Teen Mental Wellness Courtside Chat with more than 1,8000 youth to discuss their experiences with mental health and provide ways to cope with stress.  Young also partnered with Snapchat to aid the platform’s support of young voices on social media, particularly by addressing the need to increase support around the mental health and well-being of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth.  As part of their efforts, Young and the social media platform have worked with Active Minds, an organization that advocates for young people at high schools and colleges across the country, and created an in-app resource hub to provide tools for young people to address their own mental health and assist friends and family.  He is also featured in Trident’s campaign around mental health awareness.

“Since my first year in the NBA I dreamed of building an organization that could help me create lasting, sustainable resources for kids in my communities,” said Young.  “I hope the Young Family Athletic Center is just the beginning and that I can continue to use my platform to advocate for others.”

Young will be presented with the award on Saturday, April 2 ahead of the Hawks’ matchup against the Brooklyn Nets at 7:30 p.m. ET.  The NBA and Kaiser Permanente will donate $10,000 to the Trae Young Family Foundation as his non-profit beneficiary of choice.

The NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente honors the standard set by NBA legend David Robinson, who improved the community piece by piece.  To learn more, please visit https://communityassist.nba.com/.

About NBA Cares
NBA Cares is the league’s global social responsibility program that brings people together through the game of basketball and helps shine a light on important social issues, including racial, gender, LGBTQ & health equity, education, physical and mental health & wellness, environmental responsibility, and youth, family & community development.  NBA Cares programs and participants have provided more than 5.9 million hours of hands-on service and created more than 2,000 places where kids and families can live, learn or play in communities around the world.  Internationally, NBA Cares has created more than 353 places where kids and families can live, learn or play in 40 countries and territories.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 12.5 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.