The Miami Heat, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and The Underline team up to bring health and fun to the community.
A little over a year after Miamians (and the world) were all forced into quarantine due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Miami Heat decided they wanted to do something special for all the kids in the community who had been cooped for over a year in their homes.
During the lockdown, the Miami Heat had to cancel their Jr. HEAT program, a summer camp program that reaches deep into the local community helping boys and girls from under-resourced homes discover how sports and recreation can build confidence and mental and physical health.
The Heat wanted a place that would be safe and special for this memorable event. So, they chose The Underline's Urban Gym in Brickell that opened to the public on Feb. 2021 for the first Basketball and Butterflies. After locking the hottest basketball court in town, the Heat called their partners at Big Brothers Big Sisters who jumped on the opportunity to get their "Littles" outdoors and on the court.
After a little sweat and a lot of smiles, Gissel Paz, a Jr. HEAT Clinic participant said “By the beginning I wasn’t really believing in myself …. that I was going to shoot. But once I was with the coaches I felt more confident and now I can shoot better.”
And then for the first time ... after basketball, the kids ventured into The Underline's butterfly gardens and saw caterpillars, cocoons, and the beautiful monarch and sulphur butterflies all around them. After the joyous "can I touch it?" and witnessing a metamorphosis first hand, The Underline, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Miami Heat knew that they were witnessing the beginning of a beautiful partnership between three like-minded community-based organizations.
