On Friday, Latrenda Perkins, the single mom of children Billy Perkins, 10, and Lebria Perkins, 15, could jingle the keys to her new Habitat for Humanity of Greater Baton Rouge home, made possible through partnership with the 'Homes for the Holidays' program of former Baton Rougean and NFL running back Warrick Dunn. But Latrenda didn't know it would come stocked with $10,000 worth of furniture, appliances, and technology from Aaron's, Inc., and loaded with groceries from the local Shoppers Value Foods, which is co-owned by Ted Harvey and wife Lisa Harvey, who is also Principal of Catholic High, where Dunn played his high school ball. For nearly a decade, Perkins and her children shared a single room in her parents' Baton Rouge house, until the August 2016 flood displaced the entire family. The new three bedroom house was built by Habitat, with fundraising help from CHS, which also supplied manpower from students, faculty and parents to help build the house, which Latrenda worked on as well. Dunn's program that helps single parents become homeowners is one of the ways he honors his later mother, Baton Rouge Police Dept. Cpl. Betty Smothers, who was killed in an robbery-ambush while providing off-duty security during a bank deposit in 1993. The HFTH program, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary this November, works by providing a substantial down payment to help keep the new homeowners' mortgage payments low, allowing them to still have money to do things like buy a car, and save for emergencies. Warrick Dunn Charities, established in 2002, provides even more help, including financial literacy classes and scholarships for post-secondary education.

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