07-05-2025
Tunnel to Towers Foundation honors 9/11 hero and supports Gold-Star families
CHICAGO (WGN)—In Chicago's Edison Park, Midwesterners came together on Tuesday in the spirit of family, friendship, and first responders.
Many watched the events of September 11, 2001 live on television, as some witnessed the tragedy in person. One of those people was Stephen Siller, whose story may be familiar to some. For Aric Grooms, it was inspiration.
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Stephen Siller
'Began after 9/11, after Stephen Siller died in the South Tower of the World Trade Center when it collapsed,' said Grooms, who is the senior director of development for the Tunnel to Towers foundation.
Siller, a New York City firefighter, had already completed his shift when he grabbed his gear and ran from Brooklyn through the tunnel to the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan to help.
Sadly, Siller lost his life that day, but his memory carried on, as his brother Frank and their siblings set up the Tunnels to Towers Foundation in his honor. As such, the foundation annually provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star families, building some from scratch, while renovating others.
So many from across the Midwest gathered on Tuesday to take part in an event thanking sponsors and donors for their support throughout the years.
Anyone interested in donating to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation may click here:
Jeremy Ramirez, who was permanently disabled in 2008 during an ambush while deployed in Iraq, is among those grateful for the work of the Tunnels to Towers Foundation. One day before his venture to Chicago, the foundation began remodelling his Lansing, Michigan, area home.
'Everything is going to be smart,' Ramirez said. 'I'll be able to control everything with my phone. My lights, HVAC, air, blinds, appliances. They're gonna put surround sound in the roof.'
The military veteran added that work should be wrapped up in a couple of weeks. Ramirez notes that the foundation will also pay off his mortgage, which he and his family will find a huge relief.
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'It's going to make me independent and for men and women like myself, they take care of everybody,' Ramirez said of the Tunnel to Towers foundation.
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