A Hero Lends A Helping Hand
Football player Warrick Dunn is a man who is as big a star off the field as he is on it. He put his tragic past behind him by making the dreams of complete strangers come true.
CBS News Anchor Dan Rather reports in the continuing series focusing on the American dream.
Patricia Haygood laughes with joy as she looks at her home. "My blessing, this is my blessing," she says.
Haygood got her dream house. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would become a homeowner," she says.
Once a crack addict, Haygood turned her life around. She now is a single working mother of five. "I am living the American dream. I am," Haygood says.
And it is all thanks to Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Warrick Dunn.
"Warrick, I love you. Thank you so much. You are a guardian angel; you really are. God bless you," Haygood says.
"I wouldn't say I am her guardian angel; I am just a helper in the sense of her life," says Dunn.
The soft-spoken 24-year-old star athlete has been making a name for himself both on the field and off with a program called Homes for the Holidays. "Owning a home is the American dream. Once you have something that you can call your own, no one can take it away from you," Dunn says.
First he identifies a single mother, and with his own money he makes the down payment on a house, furnishes it with all the essentials and then hands over the keys to the lucky mom.
"They get furniture beds and lawn mowers and trash cans and things that I never had when I was younger," Dunn says.
Dunn grew up in a single-parent household. When he was 18, his mother was killed while working a second job as a security officer. It was her dream to own a home. Today Dunn is making her dream a reality for 16 other women.
Says Haygood: "I want to be an inspiration to other, especially other single moms that feel that there is no hope because there is. Look at me."
Dunn gives a woman in the program the ball and lets her run with it. He explains: "She has to work. She has to raise her kids. She has to take care of her family. She is doing all the hard work. What I do is simple."
He says if he can get these women "one step closer to their dream, to their goals, if I can do that, then hopefully I am living right."
"This is heaven, this is heaven," Haygood says.
Dunn has another dream these days. He's hoping to lead the Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. CBS News Anchor Dan Rather reports in the continuing series focusing on the American dream.
Patricia Haygood laughes with joy as she looks at her home. "My blessing, this is my blessing," she says.
Haygood got her dream house. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would become a homeowner," she says.
Once a crack addict, Haygood turned her life around. She now is a single working mother of five. "I am living the American dream. I am," Haygood says.
And it is all thanks to Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Warrick Dunn.
"Warrick, I love you. Thank you so much. You are a guardian angel; you really are. God bless you," Haygood says.
"I wouldn't say I am her guardian angel; I am just a helper in the sense of her life," says Dunn.
The soft-spoken 24-year-old star athlete has been making a name for himself both on the field and off with a program called Homes for the Holidays. "Owning a home is the American dream. Once you have something that you can call your own, no one can take it away from you," Dunn says.
First he identifies a single mother, and with his own money he makes the down payment on a house, furnishes it with all the essentials and then hands over the keys to the lucky mom.
"They get furniture beds and lawn mowers and trash cans and things that I never had when I was younger," Dunn says.
Dunn grew up in a single-parent household. When he was 18, his mother was killed while working a second job as a security officer. It was her dream to own a home. Today Dunn is making her dream a reality for 16 other women.
Says Haygood: "I want to be an inspiration to other, especially other single moms that feel that there is no hope because there is. Look at me."
Dunn gives a woman in the program the ball and lets her run with it. He explains: "She has to work. She has to raise her kids. She has to take care of her family. She is doing all the hard work. What I do is simple."
He says if he can get these women "one step closer to their dream, to their goals, if I can do that, then hopefully I am living right."
"This is heaven, this is heaven," Haygood says.
Dunn has another dream these days. He's hoping to lead the Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl.
