Travis Scott unveils new community and safety initiative in honor of Astroworld victims
"I will always honor the victims of the Astroworld tragedy who remain in my heart forever," the rapper says
Four months after the Astroworld tragedy which resulted in the death of ten people, Travis Scott has founded the Houston-based initiative focusing on community building and event safety called Project HEAL.
Project HEAL is described as a “multi-tier, longterm series of community-focused philanthropy and investment efforts,” with multi-million dollar backing from Scott. The initiative features four distinct categories, including a Waymon Webster HBCU scholarship fund, an expansion of the CACT.US Youth Design Center, free mental health resources (spearheaded by Dr. Janice Beal), and a U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force of Event Safety.
“Over the past few months I’ve been taking the time and space to grieve, reflect, and do my part to heal my community. Most importantly, I want to use my resources and platform moving forward towards actionable change,” Scott writes in a statement posted to Instagram.
“My team and I created Project HEAL to take much needed action towards supporting real solutions that make all events the safest spaces they can possibly be,” he continues. “I will always honor the victims of the Astroworld tragedy who remain in my heart forever. Giving back and creating opportunities for the youth is something I’ve always done and will continue to do as long as I have the chance. This program will be a catalyst to real change and I can’t wait to introduce the rest of the technology and ideas we’ve been working on.”
The U.S. Conference of Mayors will seek to bring together different community stakeholders from “government, public safety, emergency response, health care, event management, music, and technology” to find solutions for modern event safety issues.
“At the conclusion of this research, HEAL, together with the US Conference of Mayors, will assist in the creation of a comprehensive report of recommendations to be presented formally and distributed to key stakeholders for adoption, including every Mayor of every town and city which hosts large-scale events,” the website reads. “HEAL will work towards advocating that this report serves as the new safety and security blueprint for all festivals and large-scale events.”
Scott is still currently facing numerous lawsuits from those injured and the families of the deceased. In December, the House Oversight Committee announced they would be investigating Astroworld and the cause of the mass casualty event.