Former NFL player Warrick Dunn gives 145 homes to single parent families

Warrick Dunn once played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but after taking off his cleats, the former NFL player is now helping single parents across the region.

Dunn has already given 145 homes and counting to single parent families through his non-profit charity, Warrick Dunn Charities.

Dunn took Homes for the Holidays (HFTH) program to new heights after it was founded by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization back in 1997.

According to the charity’s website, the program is a tribute to his mother, Betty Smothers, who was a single mother of six. She died in the line of duty while working as a security guard.

Ever since, HFTH has been helping single parents “working towards first-time ownership” with a goal to “provide better futures to economically disadvantaged single parents and children.”

“I’m thankful I’ve had the platform and opportunity to help people,” Dunn told FOX 13 News. “For me, it’s all about when the family walks through, it’s all about them.”

Dunn’s charity through its partnership with Habitat for Humanity affiliates provides fully furnished homes with down-payment assistance to single-parent families.

The recent family to receive a new home was Xeniya McBroom and her daughter, who also got a $5,000 down payment on the house, FOX 13 News reports.

“It’s independence. I don’t have to depend on my parents. It’s just a brand new start,” McBroom told FOX 13 News.

To date, Warrick Dunn Charities has provided homes to 13 U.S. markets.