Media personality, Angela Yee, has always made sure to give back as she continues to grow. Now, in what could be considered her biggest give-back yet, Yee has decided to take her generosity to the streets of Detroit.
Angela Yee’s Philanthropy
Yee attended the 2023 Elite 100 Wealth and Legacy Summit, held in New York this week, as the event’s keynote speaker. The summit’s purpose was to showcase and lifft up Black excellence. Black women executives from a plethora of industries came together under one roof to open up a conversation on how to set Black communities up for success.
In her keynote address, focusing on “Building A Wealth Legacy,” she revealed that she recently purchased a 30-unit building in Midtown Detroit to help formerly incarcerated women reach success.
“It’s really hard to get housing when you get out of prison,” Yee explained during her speech. “If you look at the numbers, of how difficult it is, they used to ask you if you’ve ever been convicted of a felony, and people would not get housing.”
In order to achieve the feat of purchasing the building, she put together a team of women to back the property. One of the team members, Topeka K. Sam, was previously pardoned by former President Trump, after receiving a 130-month sentence which was decreased to 35 months. Because of Sam’s involvement, Yee learned a good deal about the legal system and the impacts of those who find themselves within it. More specifically, how difficult it is for those who were once behind bars, to get ahead after they are released.
“When we included [Sam] in this deal, the bank actually wouldn’t get us a loan unless we took her off,” she explained. “It was very emotional because it was yet another obstacle for somebody who has great credit and all of those things. But I was like, let’s get this done right so that we can later on discuss what type of policies need to be implemented in the future so this doesn’t happen to somebody else.”
She continued, “So, part of what we’re doing with that building is making sure that women who are formerly incarcerated have a certain amount of those units that will be allocated to them.”