The Siller Family started the Tunnel to Towers Foundation in memory of their brother, Firefighter Stephen Siller, who sacrificed his life to save others on September 11, 2001. That fateful morning, Stephen had just completed his shift at Squad 1 in Brooklyn, and was on his way to meet his three brothers for golf. When he heard the news of the first plane hitting the Twin Towers, Stephen returned to his firehouse to get his gear and go to the World Trade Center. Upon arriving at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Stephen found it closed for security purposes, so he left his truck, grabbed his sixty pounds of gear, and raced on foot through the Tunnel to the Towers. This path would come to be Stephen’s final steps, and our Foundation’s namesake.

Stephen and hundreds of his fellow first responders were inside the Towers when they collapsed; they heroically gave their lives that day for us all. Stephen’s decision to save others was an accurate representation of how he chose to live his life every day. Guided by his example and the principle, “Let Us Do Good,” Tunnel to Towers Foundation has been helping America’s heroes by providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children, and by building custom-designed smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders. We are also committed to eradicating veteran homelessness and aiding the victims of major U.S. disasters.