On Tuesday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Warrick Dunn awarded his 84th home to a single mother in the Bay area through Homes for the Holidays, a program of his Foundation.

Dunn started Homes for the Holidays in 1997 during his rookie year with the Buccaneers to honor his late mother’s dream of home ownership. Presentations are traditionally held during the November, December and May holidays; however, Tuesday’s home presentation was in honor of Super Bowl XLIII coming to Tampa, Fla.

“Super Bowl week is important, but bringing stability to someone’s life is more important,” Dunn said. “This program says a lot about our community.”

Dunn escorted twenty-seven year old Jacqueline “Jackie” Caceres, a single-mother of three, to the front door of her new home surrounded by volunteers and supporters.

Caceres’ three-bedroom, two-bathroom home was built by Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County. She contributed more than 500 sweat equity hours toward the construction of her home and other homes in the neighborhood.

“After living in an apartment for 10 years, I wanted to start the process toward owning my own home,” Caceres said. “Words can’t describe what this means for me and my children-it started as a dream and became a blessing.”

According to Caceres, a Hillsborough County Sheriffs community service officer, she attended a “Heroes” luncheon in 2006 and Dunn was the keynote speaker. Anxiously, she approached Dunn about his Homes for the Holidays program, and he encouraged her to begin the process toward home ownership through Habitat for Humanity.

“Jackie actually went through with the process and is a perfect example of how your dreams can become a reality,” Dunn said. “Homes for the Holidays is stabilizing families and gives them hope for a bright future.”

Homes for the Holidays provides down-payment assistance to lower monthly mortgage payments through sponsors like Prudential Tropical Realty and in-kind sponsor Aaron’s Sales & Lease. Mike Hickey, vice-president of management development for Aaron’s Sales & Lease, presented the Caceres family with a $10,000 check representing the home furnishings and appliances.

The Foundation added a new partner to the program with Samsung Electronics America, the Official HDTV of Super Bowl XLIII, providing more than $50,000 in product to the Warrick Dunn Foundation during Super Bowl XLIII festivities through Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope program.

To date, the Foundation has assisted 84 single parents and 224 children and dependents in Tampa and Tallahassee, Florida; Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Atlanta, Georgia achieve the American dream of owning a home.

EDITOR’S NOTES: Recipient Information:
Jacqueline “Jackie” Caceres - 27-year-old single-mother
Elijah Ramos - 11-year-old son
Jermaine Dorsey, Jr. - 5-year-old son
Jeremiah Dorsey - 2-year-old son