“She Is My Hero”- Former NFL star Warrick Dunn reveals his motivation behind tackling housing inequity

After playing for 12 years in the NFL, former running back Warrick Dunn has managed to give back a lot more to the community. Rather than just handing out turkeys, Dunn decided to do something which was impactful and could help a lot of people. After doing some research, Dunn decided to focus on helping single parents buy their own places to live.

Warrick Dunn’s inspiration

Warrick Dunn had the idea of helping single parents buy their houses from his mother. Dunn’s mother, Betty Smothers was a single mom of six who worked as a police officer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Growing up, Dunn saw the efforts and sacrifices his mother made to provide for her family.

“She went out of her way to even when she didn’t have a lot to help other people,” Dunn explained. Unfortunately, she could not achieve her dream of owning a house. She died on January 7, 1993, when two armed robbers ambushed and killed Smothers when she was escorting a businesswoman on her off duty.

Dunn’s Charity programs to help single parents

So, Dunn decided to help the single parents who were unable to own a house by themselves. Dunn started with a program called Homes for the Holidays. “$5,000 down payment and we fully furnish their homes with food, furniture, linens, garden tools, TVs, computers all the way down to the toothbrush,” Dunn said.

Warrick Dunn Charities has come up with services that help people in securing the house and their futures in the long haul. Now, the Dunn charity has also added three new programs — Count on Your Future, Sculpt, and the Hearts for Community Service scholarships. Dunn said that these programs can help communities fight poverty and hunger by improving their quality of life, health, and education.

In the spring of 2020, he started WD Communities. Dunn teamed up with the city of Augusta, Georgia, to build a community of affordable homes as part of the Laney-Walker revitalization project. To date, Warrick Dunn Charities has helped over 200 single parents purchase and furnish their own homes. Dunn wants to hopefully run out of business which means that people won’t need help to secure their housing.

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