SYRACUSE, NY (WSYR-TV) - The mother of NBA All-Star Dwayne Wade was in Syracuse on Saturday. Pastor Jolinda Wade spoke at a special banquet where she hoped to inspire at-risk youth to follow their dreams.
The banquet was held at American Legion Post 1468 on Academy Street and was hosted by the National Action Network.
NewsChannel 9 caught up with Wade Saturday afternoon. She told us that a lot of at-risk kids have simply “stopped dreaming.”
"They look out the window and see a big time drug dealer, they see a gang banger and all that stuff going on and they feel like that’s the extent of their life. That’s what they were born to do, when there’s something bigger that’s going on inside of them that they can’t tap into or recognize because nobody has really ever let them know what this thing is,” said Wade.
Wade has battled drugs and alcohol and even spent time in prison. She said she can relate to some of the at-risk youth she meets across the country and in Syracuse.
“So I do think I have something that I can share with them. That I can speak to that place in which they are at or the place in which some of them will be going and maybe we can, if it’s just one, maybe we can give hope to one. Maybe we can make one recognize what a dream really is,” said Wade.
The banquet ends at 10:00 p.m.
