Staten Island, NY, Sept. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In observance of the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation is providing mortgage-free homes to 20 fallen first responder families.
Since that fateful day, the Foundation has vowed to never forget the sacrifice of our first responders by taking care of the families they leave behind.
The Foundation is honored to announce it has provided mortgage-free homes to the families of:
- NYPD Officer Emanuele Alongi
- NY State Police Major Rodrick Covington
- NYPD Officer & FDNY Firefighter Robert Welsh
- United States Park Police K9 Officer Edwin Jimenez
- NYC Department of Corrections Officer Jonathan Latta
- Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Peter Egan
- Alamo Police Officer Dylan Harrison
- Tarpon Springs Police Officer Charles Kondek Jr.
- Wyandot County Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Kin
- Tiffin Firefighter and Paramedic Sean Tyler
- Baton Rouge Police Officer Montrell Jackson
- Burnet Firefighter Daniel Hampton
- Harris County Deputy Sheriff Joshua Sieman
- Ebenezer Fire District Firefighter Dustin Brandhorst
- Cal Fire Captain Matthew Brabo
On August 31, during a high-speed chase of a fleeing suspect Osage Beach Police Officer Phylicia Carson skidded off the road and crashed into a tree. Officer Carson lost her life and left behind her husband, Grant Carson, a Miller County Sheriff’s Deputy, and six children.
Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller spoke with Deputy Carson and informed him that Tunnel to Towers will provide him and his family with a mortgage-free home.
Deputy Carson was overwhelmed when he was told, saying, “I don’t know what to say. Thank you…Owning a home was one of our family’s dreams.”
In New York, the Foundation is supporting five families who have recently lost loved ones to 9/11-related illnesses. Emergency Service Unit Captain at NYC Department of Corrections Gennaro ’Jerry’ Cariello spent a month at Ground Zero before the Police Commissioner appointed him to oversee the 9/11 recovery effort at Staten Island’s Fresh Kills Landfill where World Trade Center debris was being taken. He passed away on November 15, 2023, from 9/11-related cancer, leaving behind his wife Johann Cariello, and their children. Tunnel to Towers paid off the mortgage on the family’s Staten Island home.
“Tunnel to Towers has helped our family beyond words. Our family can now stay in the home where Jerry and I raised our children…Tunnel to Towers has given us the support and relief of financial stress, allowing our family to focus on rebuilding,” said Johann.
"It has been 23 years since America was attacked and New Yorkers are still feeling the impact as the heroes who participated in the rescue and recovery effort succumb to 9/11-related illnesses. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has vowed to “Never Forget’ the heroes, like my brother FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller, who gave up their lives on 9/11 and will continue to support the families who lose their loved ones to these devastating diseases," said Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
The Tunnel to Towers First Responder Home Program pays off the mortgages for the families of law enforcement officers and firefighters who are killed in the line of duty, pass away from 9/11-related illnesses, and leave behind young children.
For more on the families receiving mortgage-free homes please go to T2T.org. Join us on our mission to support America’s heroes and their families by donating $11 per month.
About the Tunnel to Towers Foundation
Born from the tragedy of 9/11, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation carries out its mission to “do good,” by providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children and by building specially adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders. Tunnel to Towers is also committed to eradicating veteran homelessness and helping America Never Forget September 11, 2001.
Visit T2T.org to learn more and follow Tunnel to Towers on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
Attachments
- Tunnel to Towers Foundation Delivers 20 Mortgage-Free Homes to Fallen First Responder Families
- Tunnel to Towers Foundation Delivers 20 Mortgage-Free Homes to Fallen First Responder Families
