Tampa Bay Buccaneers players build affordable housing in Temple Terrace
TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. - Fresh off a win at home, Bucs players traded their game gloves for work gloves on Tuesday and got busy building affordable houses.
"We're football players, but at the end of the day, we're human, and we want to serve and give back to the community," said Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr.
For the first time in a decade, the team is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build new affordable homes as part of its social justice campaign. Four are in the works in Temple Terrace.
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"It raises the issue to the masses, that this is truly an issue and if we all band together we can do something about it," shared Habitat for Humanity Hillsborough CEO Tina Forcier.
In fact, she said there are some 200,000 families in Hillsborough County alone burdened by housing costs. Tiffany Miranda was one of them.
"I’ll be saving $900 a month practically with my mortgage compared to what I’m renting out now," Miranda said.
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As a life-long resident, she said this new house will be a life-changer for her and her family, the builders are just a bonus.
"It is pretty cool I get to have bragging right; I get to say the Bucs put my windows up," she said. "I’m just super happy and want to cry when I look at my house," she added.
And for the players like running back Rachaad White, that's what it's all about.
"It is better than scoring a touchdown," White told FOX 13.
The players raised $75,000 dollars for the build which was matched by the Glazer family. The homes should be completed by early next year.