ST. LOUIS _ It has been 13 years since Kurt Warner last played football for the St Louis Rams, but a part of his heart remains in the area.
For example, the Warner's Winter Warmup collected 15,000 coats for the needy in the St. Louis area, more than it ever did when Warner was still playing here.
And on Friday, Kurt, wife Brenda and oldest son Zack left the warmth of their residence in the Phoenix area to present fully-furnished new homes in north St. Louis County to a pair of single working mothers as part of the "Homes for the Holidays" program.
"It's just amazing what he's doing for families around the world," said one of those mothers, Latonia H., a nurse with two children who was one of Friday's recipients. "I think the Lord puts people in this world for certain reasons. And I think that he was born just for that reason _ just to be able to bless others."
And throw touchdown passes.
The Warners can relate to what the single mothers are going through from earlier times.
"So much of it is staying true to our roots," Warner said. "And knowing what we went through to get to this point. So this program, with Brenda being a single mom, and going through so many of these same things, it's speaks to our hearts there."
Brenda talked about putting a down-payment on an Iowa home in the 1990s from insurance money received after her parents were killed in an Arkansas tornado in 1996. She and Kurt _ then playing in the Arena Football League _ spent their first night in the new home sleeping on pillows and blankets. They had nothing else.
"I tell you what, there were a lot of struggles that we went through in our lives in a lot of different areas," Warner said at ribbon-cutting ceremonies at Latonia's new home. "And you wonder at different times what's life gonna look like; what's our future gonna look like?"
Hill's future is brighter thanks to her efforts plus help from Warner's First Things First Foundation, Aaron's, U-Haul, and Habitat for Humanity St. Louis.
"Single moms are so tough and they're so amazing," Brenda said. "To be able to look her in the eye and tell her, 'This is really yours.' I mean she just wouldn't believe it. A lot of times, she's been through a system that has been tough. And life is hard.
"So it's a full-circle for me to be able to look 'em in the eye and say you're worthy of this. We just get to be a part of it. I married Kurt for many reasons, but if we can keep doing this I'll stay married to him. Because this is so much fun."
The Homes for the Holidays program rewards unsuspecting first-time homebuyers with furnishings, a washer and dryer, a computer, canned and dry goods, even a Christmas tree, at an approximate value of $10,000 per home. The Warners have donated both their time and money to the effort.
(At request of Habitat for Humanity, the full last names of the recipients were not given out.)
Including Friday's housewarmings, Warner's First Things First Foundation has been part of "surprising" 43 families, including 19 in the St. Louis.
"St. Louis will always have a special place in our hearts," Kurt said. "You know, it's the first place that I played (in the NFL) _ the way that they opened their arms and welcomed us. The way they supported everything we've done over the years when we were here. The way that they continue to support things that we do, when we haven't been here for over a decade.
"We just always said that if the door stayed open, we would continue to walk through it as much as we could to make a difference in this community because it made such a huge difference in our lives."
