Atlanta native Quanta and her family on Tuesday received what for them was the ultimate Christmas gift from Habitat for Humanity and its partnership with Atlanta Falcons legend Warrick Dunn.
The 35-year-old engaged mother of three, her children, her fiancé, Antione, and her mother, Geraldine, were visibly shocked during the morning as they toured their new four-bedroom, two bathroom, ranch-style home near Brown Mill Park in South Atlanta. Capital B Atlanta is omitting Quanta’s last name at Habitat for Humanity’s request.
This was the 250th home Dunn has helped provide to single mothers across the nation since the retired NFL running back launched his pro football career and his philanthropic journey in 1997. Dunn’s charitable mission was inspired by his mother, Betty Smothers, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, police officer who was fatally shot during an armed robbery in 1993 before her own homeownership dream could be realized.
Her son told Capital B Atlanta that the rising cost of housing and consumer goods has made continuing his mission “much more complicated.”
“Prices obviously are increasing and the need for certain things, the cost, is just going up,” Dunn told Capital B Atlanta. “We’ve got to manage how we utilize our funds, spend our dollars. But most importantly, we got to help individuals that are trying to help themselves.”
It was a day Quanta, an insurance claims specialist, said she’s been working towards for “a few years” after applying for a Habitat home, attending required homebuyer classes, and working to improve her credit score. She expected to receive keys to the new house Tuesday morning, but didn’t know the place would be fully furnished and stocked with more than $10,000 worth of appliances.
The new home includes a fully stocked laundry. (Chauncey Alcorn/Capital B) 
The new home also came with A fully furnished home office. (Chauncey Alcorn/Capital B) 
A Christmas tree surrounded by presents sits in the living room. (Chauncey Alcorn/Capital B) 
A fresh apple pie sits on the kitchen table of Quanta’s new home. (Chauncey Alcorn/Capital B)
Her kitchen cabinets and refrigerator were stocked with food she didn’t have to buy. Sitting on her kitchen table was a fresh apple pie. There was even a Christmas tree surrounded by presents next to the flatscreen TV, sofas and coffee table in the living room — all courtesy of The Aaron’s Co. and Warrick Dunn Charities’ “Homes for the Holidays” program.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” Quanta told Capital B Atlanta on Tuesday after Dunn himself presented her with a $5,000 down-payment check and gave her a tour of her new home. “Your dreams can come true. You just have to put in the work and get everything you need to do to be a homeowner.”
Habitat for Humanity uses volunteer labor, community donations, and sponsorships to build less-expensive homes for qualifying residents like Quanta to help them pay more-affordable mortgages.
It’s been more than a year since the Mortgage Research Network dubbed metro Atlanta the best city for Black homebuyers, despite a persistent racial wealth gap and income inequality. Since then, median home prices have decreased year over year due to lower demand fueled in part by economic insecurity. But many Black aspiring homebuyers haven’t been able to capitalize on what industry insiders consider to be a buyers’ market.
Atlanta Habitat for Humanity CEO Rosalyn Merrick also acknowledged the added challenges an elevated cost of living has created for her charity, which has been building homes in the city for 42 years.
“The cost of land and construction materials and labor have gone up tremendously,” Merrick told Capital B Atlanta on Tuesday. “What it cost us to build a home even five years ago, it cost twice as much now. So we are ever-focused on efficiency, how [we can] make the homes that we build more affordable. And really, that affordability starts with the land itself.”
The magnitude of Quanta’s gift wasn’t lost on her mother, Geraldine, who was overcome with emotion after touring her daughter’s new home. The retired 69-year-old grandmother recalled raising two daughters in an Atlanta home years ago before relocating to a rented home in Union City, where she said Quanta and her family were living prior to Tuesday.
Geraldine worried her daughter would never be able to own a home the way her mother once did.
“I’m trying to let it all soak in because stuff like this don’t happen every day to everybody,” Geraldine said.
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