ST. PETERSBURG – Warrick Dunn Charities and Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside partnered together Oct. 29 to surprise Habitat families with fully furnished living rooms, bedrooms and a kitchen stocked with groceries on the day of their home dedication celebrations.
This year was special as the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back decorated three Habitat Homes for single moms and their families.
These homes brought the Warrick Dunn Charities impact to 232 homes nationwide and 61 homes in the Tampa Bay region.
Many of those 61 homes have been with Habitat Tampa Bay Gulfside (formerly Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties).
Thanks to partnerships with Warrick Dunn Charities and Aaron’s, three Habitat Homeowners and their families walked into fully furnished homes with upwards of $10,000 worth of furniture and accessories.
The Perez-Santiago, Mitchell and Sparks Families all earned the keys to their Habitat Homes after completing the Habitat homeownership program.
Each family learned all they needed to know about becoming a homeowner by taking 36 homebuyer education classes. They also put in between 350 to 450 sweat equity hours on Habitat construction sites, including the build of their own home. These families each earn a 0% interest mortgage that will guarantee affordability throughout the life of the loan.
“It’s great to see the parents going into their rooms and how excited and thankful they are for this opportunity,” said Dunn, who has a special place in his heart for single parents.
His mother, Betty Smothers, was a single parent to six kids. She was also a police officer who was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in 1993.
“The things that we provide (in the home) truly give them a fresh start to homeownership,” he said.
Mike Sutton, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside, said Habitat is grateful for the partnership with Dunn and Aaron’s.
“We say that it takes the entire community to come together to support our mission and we are so thankful to have the support of Warrick and his team and for all they do for Habitat and for the community here in Tampa Bay,” Sutton said.
“No moving trucks,” said Keyonda Mitchell, one of the Habitat homeowners surprised by Warrick Dunn and Aaron’s. “My kids have their own rooms and their own furniture. Let’s grab our clothes and start enjoying this blessing.”
