Ex-NFL Star Warrick Dunn Has Helped Provide Homes for 145 Single Parents

The first tip off that told Falisha Stewart that it was going to be a weird day was when the conversation turned towards the Atlanta Falcons. It certainly wasn't going to be an average day: it was late November 2003 and Stewart, a single mom working for the state department of transportation, was moving into a new three-bedroom home. She had qualified for the opportunity to live in the Lakewood area of South Atlanta through a local charity, Charis Community Housing, a big move up from the cramped two-bedroom apartment in a rough neighborhood she was sharing with her daughter, 12-year-old Alisha, and her mother, Linda, who was having trouble walking. The area they had been living in was so bad, she says she started praying, asking God to find her a new place to live.

During the ride over to her new home, she was overjoyed, but curious why the driver kept talking about the city's NFL team. She remembers telling them that the Falcons's were pretty bad that season, but didn't think anything of it until the car got close to her new address. The streets were filled with people. A crowd has assembled in her new yard. By the time she realized what was happening—the Falcons's running back, Warrick Dunn, was presenting her home to her as part of his charitable Homes for the Holidays program—she was already crying tears of joy. Alisha had to accept the keys and attend to the ribbon-cutting as her mom walked into a house that, unbeknownst to her, was actually fully furnished.