There was one thing that Fredo Santana does like. Fredo took to IG to give props to a real individual for their work in giving back to the inner city.
Fredo posted an IG photo of millionaire Harris Rosen who helped cut the crime rate and increase the high school graduation rate in Tangelo Park, a poverty stricken community in Orlando.
The photo read, “Self-made millionaire Harris Rosen adopted a Florida neighborhood called Tangelo Park, cut the crime rate in half, and increased the high school graduation rate from 25% to 100% by giving everyone free daycare and all high school graduates scholarships.”
Fredo captioned his post, “This man….I respect it.”
Rosen’s Tangelo Park Program provides free preschool to Tangelo Park children age two to four, according to the Tangelo Park Program website. Rose also pays the fee of higher education for those Tangelo Park high school graduates who are accepted into vocational school, community college, junior college or a four-year public college in the state of Florida.
The website states approximately 190 students have been provided full college scholarships thus far.
The high school graduation rate in the community is nearly 100 percent, according to NBC Today.
Rosen has reportedly donated nearly $10 million in two decades since starting the program.
“We’ve given them hope,” Rosen told Today. “We’ve given these kids hope, and given the families hope. And hope is an amazing thing.”
Rosen was reportedly listed in Forbes magazine as the 30th most generous philanthropist in 2008 in America for investing over $30 million in his overall charity work.
The millionaire businessman acquired his fortune after starting Rosen Hotels & Resorts in 1974.
Rosen is giving in his philanthropic nature due to his philosophy, “To always do the right thing.”
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Rosen’s charity work may hit home for Fredo due to his upbringing on 61st and Indiana in South Side Chicago.
Fredo recalled growing up impoverished and being aware of his predicament at the tender age of 10, demanding answers from his mother who could barely support him.
“I was like, ‘Mama, what the fuck is going on,’” he recalled during an interview with Village Voice.
Fredo’s grew to become depressed by his living conditions.
“…I’ve always been happy, but I wasn’t happy with the surroundings. My surroundings,” he told Village Voice. “My aunties and my mama and my neighbors. The community. Just the black community. The culture. How it just keep going and keep going. The poverty. All that. I wasn’t happy with that.
“People grow up so fast. Real, real fast,” he continued. “By 12, I was buying my own socks, drawers, taking care of myself like a grown man.”
It is this bad hand he was dealt in life that angers him. But Fredo uses this anger as fuel for his artistry.
“…As soon as I go into the booth, I’m angry,” Fredo said. “…When I put the mic on and hear the beats, I think about my childhood and think of all the bad stuff. I don’t know. I gotta be rapping about bad stuff.”
Fredo is prepping the release of his sophomore album “Walking Legend.” The project is slated to drop soon.
Subscribe to KollegeKidd YouTube Channel by clicking here.
For Updates, Be sure to Follow kollegekidd.com on Twitter @KollegeKidd by clicking here.
You can also stay up-to-date by liking kollegekidd.com FaceBook Page by clicking here