A single mother and her 13-year-old son have a new house in Holiday, thanks to pro football star Warrick Dunn.
By MARY SPICUZZA
Published November 30, 2005
[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer]
Nancy Bevilacqua, a church organist and choir director, sits at the new piano in her new home Tuesday in Holiday as Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn watches. Dunn provided the down payment on the house and furnished it. Bevilacqua's is the 53rd family Dunn has helped this way -- and the first in Pasco County.
HOLIDAY - When Nancy Bevilacqua walked through the front door of her new home, she saw her dream waiting for her inside.
A Remington upright piano sat in the living room, just next to a glowing Christmas tree. Like everything else inside, both had been furnished by the man guiding her through her new Habitat for Humanity house Tuesday morning: Warrick Dunn, Atlanta Falcons running back and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer.
Dunn looked on as Bevilacqua sat at her "real piano," hands crossed over her heart. Then she started to play.
"It was Solfeggietto by Bach," she said later. "That's a favorite song. My fingers automatically played that."
Bevilacqua, the organist and choir director for St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in New Port Richey, and her 13-year-old son, Carl Unkle, are the first Pasco County family Dunn has helped with "Homes for the Holidays," a program that assists single mothers in owning their first home. They are the 53rd family Dunn has helped to providea home.
The program, run by the Warrick Dunn Foundation, provides the down payment on a house and fills it with items such as furniture, food, linens and pots and pans.
"I'm always blessed to be in this position to help people," Dunn said. "It keeps you humble."
After Bevilacqua arrived at the house about 8 a.m. Tuesday, she met Dunn and stopped to thank his foundation and others, including West Pasco Habitat for Humanity.
It was Habitat for Humanity, which began working with Bevilacqua about two years ago and broke ground on the house of about 1,000 square feet in February, that mentioned her to Dunn's foundation last month.
"They contacted us and asked if we were going to have a house near completion," West Pasco Habitat for Humanity vice president Maria Brandes said. "I guess it would be divine intervention that this house was ready when the foundation was ready."
On Tuesday morning, "ready" seemed an understatement.
The living room had a black leather couch, television and area rug.
The kitchen cupboards were stocked with Rice Krispies, Pop-Tarts, Chips Ahoy cookies, spaghetti and new knife and flatware sets.
A breakfast in bed tray sat on Bevilacqua's already-made bed, complete with a single yellow rose.
A jar of cookies and an apple pie were on the kitchen counter.
Even their mixed-breed dog, Fred, had a bed, new collar, and dog treats waiting for him.
"There is nothing that they missed," Bevilacqua said later in the day. "There are even new toothbrushes."
Dunn's foundation spent about $12,000 on the home, including a $5,000 payment toward the mortgage. If it hadn't, Bevilacqua would have been responsible for paying the full mortgage on her own. Habitat spent about $52,000 to buy the property and build the house.
The foundation worked with Aaron's Sales and Lease, which donated the furniture, and Albertsons, which donated the food.
Habitat for Humanity still holds the mortgage, which Bevilacqua is to pay off over 20 years, interest-free.
Helping single mothers own their own homes is the main goal of the Warrick Dunn Foundation, established in 2002 to help Dunn expand his "Homes for the Holidays Program."
Dunn began his program in 1997 after being drafted by the Buccaneers. He created it to honor his mother, Betty Smothers, a single mother who raised Dunn and his five siblings while working as a Baton Rouge police officer.
Smothers was killed in the line of duty during Dunn's senior year in high school.
"It does give me an opportunity to help people that are trying to make a difference in their own lives," Dunn said.
He smiled, then added, "Also, I can work on my fan base."
On Tuesday, Bevilacqua said he'd gained at least two lifelong fans.
"I had never really known who he was," she said. "I guess it's obvious I don't really follow sports."
When asked whether her son was a football fan, she answered without a pause: "He's going to be."
Times photographers Brendan Fitterer and Willie J. Allen Jr. contributed to this report.
Mary Spicuzza can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6241 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6241. Her e-mail address is mspicuzza@sptimes.com
