Growing up in a single-parent home is not easy on either the parent or the children. In fact, in many ways it puts the family behind the eight ball in a world where inflation is on the rise and incomes are struggling to keep up. Aside from just dealing with inflation, about 31.7% of single-parent households are living in poverty, which makes it impossible to build a savings. 

Resilience in the Face of Adversity

As a lifelong Boston Celtics fan who was also raised in a single-mother home, life was not easy. We struggled to make ends meet, we moved around a lot, but my mom never gave up. She did the best she could, and always found a way to provide for me. 

That's something that Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum and I have in common. Brandy Cole-Barnes had Tatum at just 19-years old, as a new high school grad, but that didn't stop her from giving him the best life she could. 

Much like with my mom and I, Cole-Barnes and Tatum struggled to keep the bills paid. There would be days without food or having to share a single meal, months with no heat, no electricity, etc... However, all those sacrifices Cole-Barnes made were because she knew Tatum would make his dream of being in the NBA come true. 

Sacrifice and Support: The Journey to Success

Tatum and his mom | Instagram
Tatum and his mom | Instagram

“There were times when, yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have paid for him to travel with this team or go to this tournament,” Cole-Barnes told the Boston Globe in a 2018 interview. "There were times if I hadn’t done that, we would have had the electricity on. But I knew that’s what he wanted, and I knew he was special".

"I remember the nights we didn't have anything to eat. Two doors down, I remember our neighbor named Donna, she fed us many of nights." Tatum said during an episode of “Up Close with Sage Steele” in 2022. "I would walk out and go over there, knock on her door, and she'd give us a chicken pot pie. We heat it up, and my mom would let me eat the middle of it, and she'd eat the crust on the outside." 

It's no secret that Tatum turned his dreams into a reality, and became one of the NBA's most elite players. However, it's what he's been doing off the court that really separates him from the rest. 

A Commitment to Giving Back

Tatum and his foundation, the Jayson Tatum Foundation, are partnering with SoFi Bank to help low income, single-parent families to not struggle the way he did. SoFi is committing over $1,000,000 to the cause in order to help these families begin the process to achieve generational wealth in the form of homes and savings. 

The Importance of the Humanity of a Star

One of the toughest parts of my childhood was constantly moving from place to place, and if something like this had been put in place for my mom and I, I wonder how much different my life could've been. However, the past is in the past for me, and I have a future to look forward to even if at times it may look uncertain. Thanks to Tatum and his passion for making the world a better place, kids like him and I will also have a better future to look towards.

As humans, we often find ourselves drawn to those we find relatable. Coming from a single-parent household, having a close relationship with my mom, and loving the sport of basketball the way I do, I have that relatability with Tatum. No, I don't know him personally, but his story resonates with me. The same way I think it resonates with a lot of you.

That's why we cheer for him. It's why we win when he wins. It's why we struggle when he struggles. Tatum is part of Boston. And, if he's part of Boston, he's part of me. He's part of all of us.

As a native Bostonian, I can tell you, myself, my friends, my family, and my city couldn't be prouder of Tatum. He has adpoted Boston as his second home. He's spoken of his connection to the city. He envisions a future where his jersey is hanging from the rafters of TD Garden.

With this SoFi deal, he's proving to the world that he's more than the Celtics superstar, he's an All-Life caliber human being. He embodies what it means to be a professional athlete. He gives back, he cares, and he just so happens to be a Celtic.