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Retired professional basketball player and owner of the Charlotte Hornets, Michael Jordan, has given $7 million to build medical clinics in poor and troubled communities around Charlotte, North Carolina.
According to ESPN, this gift is the largest philanthropic donation ever given by Jordan.
The donation will go directly to fund two Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics, which are aimed to be up and running by late 2020.
"Through my years of working with Novant Health, I have been impressed with their approach and their commitment to the community," Jordan said in a press release Monday. "It is my hope that these clinics will help provide a brighter and healthier future for the children and families they serve."
Jordan’s spokeswoman, Estee Portnoy, believes Jordan was inspired by a 2014 study from Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley. The study found that poor children in Charlotte have the worst odds of those in any big U.S. city to get out of poverty.
This report also led to the creation of a task force aiming to identify ways to address Charlotte’s economic-mobility problems.
In a statement, Jordan said he was proud to partner with Novant "to bring critical health services to underserved areas of Charlotte and the thousands of North Carolinians with limited access to health care."
Jordan hopes the clinics “will help provide a brighter and healthier future for the children and families they serve."
Jordan tackling public health did not come as a surprise to many. The Hornets’ corporate social responsibility department recognizes wellness as a major issue in the Charlotte area.