Former NFL Player Warrick Dunn Helps Single Mothers Purchase Homes

Warrick Dunn scored a lot of touchdowns as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer and an Atlanta Falcon. He’s currently scoring a lot of touchdowns off the field as well.

Dunn recently helped two single mothers in Atlanta acquire homes and generational wealth thanks to his Homes for the Holidays program for single-parent families, according to Blacknews.com and CBS News.

In this particular instance, he teamed up with Habitat for Humanities to make these women’s dreams come to fruition.

His upbringing inspired Dunn's participation in this nonprofit. At just 18, his mother passed away after working multiple jobs to support their family of five children; she worked as both a police officer and a security officer.

The three-time Pro Bowl player went on to purchase his sibling a house with the life insurance money that his mother left behind.

“I didn’t have a place that I can actually say, hey, this is where we develop all of our memories as kids growing up,” Dunn said.

His experience as a young man led to the establishment of Homes for the Holidays during his inaugural season with the Tampa Bay Bucs. The program has helped hundreds of single parents across 16 states make down payments on their first homes. It also furnishes the homes and stocks the pantries.

“Homes for the Holidays (HFTH) is the flagship program of Warrick Dunn Charities, Inc. Housing is the key to reducing generational poverty and increasing economic mobility. Moreover, according to research completed by Stanford, children living in stable, affordable homes are more likely to thrive in school and have greater opportunities to learn inside and outside the classroom."

“Warrick Dunn Charities, Inc, helps to break the cycle of generational poverty by providing a hand-up – not a handout – to single parents and their children. We surprise single parent families (who are actively working to support themselves) with home furnishings and down payment assistance.”

This is what Dunn always wanted to do.

"I wanted to do something that was a little bit more impactful, not just handing out turkeys," he said in an interview with CNN. "I wanted to do something that had a real impact in the community."