Building Hope Through Sport
Coach: Neide Santos
Organization: Vida Corrida, Sao Paulo, Brazil
After the deaths of both her husband and her son — due to street violence in their underserved neighborhood of Capão Redondo, Brazil — Neide Santos chose rather than become a victim, to stand up and fight for the community she loves. In 1999, she created Projeto Vida Corrida, a non-profit organization that Nike has supported for about 10 years and now serves hundreds of parents and children in Sao Paulo, teaching them all that through the power of sport and play, they too can change their futures for the better. “I really wanted to show people in the community that anyone could play sports — not just high-performance athletes,” she says. “I’ve never been an elite athlete, and I’ve been running my whole life.”
