NBA player from Rochester speaks about donating to afterschool program that supported him

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — An NBA player from Rochester is giving back to his community. Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart donated more than $200,000 to Vision Tutoring and God’s Visions Ministries.

Isaiah Stewart grew up on Cady Street and credits much of his success to Bishop Burnice Green and the afterschool program he attended.

“The NBA don’t gift to you. You got to work hard,” said Dela Stewart, Isaiah’s father.

Whether it was with the Pistons, at Washington University, La Lumiere Prep, or at McQuaid Jesuit, Isaiah Stewart has done just that: work hard.

“Having the chance to make it out of Rochester and become someone, do great things in life, it makes it easy to want to come back,” Isaiah Stewart said.

One of the reasons the NBA star takes so much pride in Rochester is on Hudson Avenue, God’s Vision Ministries and Bishop Burnice Green.

“I know that Bishop Green is going to do is going to do a fantastic job,” Isaiah Stewart said.

Growing up, Stewart spent his time after school at Bishop Green’s program–where he was fed, tutored, and guided both academically and mentally.

“When Isaiah attended this program, the school district that he was in, the graduation rate was 29%,” Green said. “These young men who came here, they worked really, really hard with their teachers and their tutors in the partnership with our school. A lot of these young men that came in through the Boys Academy, through this program, 95% of them graduated from high school. “

So when Isaiah heard that Dr. Green’s after-school program stopped receiving funding, he stepped in.

“When he told me that the program had stopped because it wasn’t being funded,” Isaiah Stewart said. “I took that upon myself to help bring the program back.”

With a $220,000 donation to Vision Tutoring and the addition of a couple of buses, the Isaiah Stewart Learning Academy was born where the students will receive the same treatment a young Isaiah got years ago.

“By the time they get home, their homework is done, they’ve already eaten,” Green said. “And all parents need to do is have a good family time with them and put them to bed.”

The program also gives them someone to look up to.

“Lot of kids here, they’re strong and they just need somebody to show them the right way,” Dela Stewart said.

The program is free and available for those in grades one through 12. You can learn more here.