February 8, 2025 • 53 mins
Discover the extraordinary mission of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation as we hear from Gavin Naples, Vice President of the Homeless Veterans Program. Gavin shares the impactful work being done to support America's heroes, including providing mortgage-free homes to veterans and first responders. With powerful endorsements from public figures like Jelly Roll and Cole Hauser, this episode promises insights into how the foundation is making a real difference and how you can be a part of it.
Learn about the innovative strategies Tunnel to Towers employs to combat veteran homelessness and support their families. This includes transforming hotels into housing and creating Veterans Villages in cities across the U.S., such as Houston and Denver. These initiatives offer not just a home but a community, complete with employment assistance and behavioral health services, ensuring veterans have the support they need as they transition back to civilian life.
We also share poignant stories of resilience, like Mike's battle with lymphoma and the critical support his family received. The emotional journey of Jeff's family after his passing underscores the foundation's role in providing stability during the toughest times. Gavin's transition from real estate to a life dedicated to serving veterans highlights the dedication and passion driving Tunnel to Towers' efforts. Join us for a heartfelt exploration of these life-changing programs and the heroes they honor.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Plain English Real Estate Show with
your host, rowena Patton, a showthat focuses on the real estate
market in terms you can easilyunderstand.
Call Rowena now.
The number is 240-9962 or1-800-570-9962.
Now here's the English girl inthe mountains, the agent that I
would trust, rowena Patton.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
September 11th 2001.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I get a phone call by a firefighter.
He said nobody's coming home.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
The people needed our help and we were going to go
help them.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
On September 11th 2001,.
Fdny firefighter Steven Sillerstrapped 60 pounds of gear on
his back and raced on footthrough the tunnel to the Twin
Towers of the World Trade Center, where he gave his life while
saving others.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundationhas been supporting America's
heroes ever since.
We provide the survivingfamilies of fallen first
(00:55):
responders and military memberswith mortgage-free homes and
build specially adaptedmortgage-free smart homes for
America's most catastrophicallyinjured veterans and first
responders.
We're also committed toeradicating veteran homelessness
.
Come support the Tunnel toTowers Foundation at one of our
many events throughout the year.
Join us in supporting ourheroes by donating $11 a month
(01:18):
now.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
Hi everyone.
It's Rowena Patton, your friendin real estate, here with you
today on Real Estate News Radio.
This is the show you've beenwaiting for.
I've been promising to bringleadership from Tenor to Towers
onto the show, a course weproudly support through the
Listing Royalty Network, andtoday that promise is a reality.
We've got a very special guest,Gavin Naples, who leads the
(01:44):
Homeless Veterans Program atTenor Towers.
We're diving into theincredible work they're doing to
support those who served ourcountry.
Stay with us.
It's going to be an inspiringconversation.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
We're talking about the people who have put their
lives on the line for this greatcountry, the people who have
lost and paid the greatest pricefor our freedom for guys like
me to be able to go sing songsabout whatever I want to sing
about every single night, andwe're talking about an
organization that helps supportfamilies and support the people
that are running into the dangerthat the rest of us are running
away from, and that's the kindof people I want to be beside.
(02:20):
Those are the real heroes.
Man, I'm just a big fat guywith a guitar.
Hey y'all, this is Jelly Rolland I am asking you to give $11
a month to the Tunnel to TowersFoundation.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundationis committed to honoring the
dignity of the American servicemember and is committed to
helping end homelessness amongstthe veteran community and
ensure no veteran is left behind.
(02:41):
Providing a safe and dignifiedhome is an imperative part of
helping veterans who arehomeless reclaim their lives.
Donate $11 a month by calling1-844-BRAVEST or visit T2Torg.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Hi everyone.
I'm so excited today we haveGavin, who's the VP of the
Homeless Veteran Program atTunnel to Towers, with us, and
we've been trying to set up thisinterview for a very long time.
And you guys, what I love aboutyou, gavin, is that you run
this program somewhat on a shoescreen so that you can give back
(03:19):
95.1% of every dollar to theprogram.
I mean, that's unheard of,isn't it?
Speaker 6 (03:27):
It's pretty exceptional.
We run very lean.
I'm working out of a strip mallon Staten Island right now.
Our CEO is uncompensated andall the money really does go to
our programs and to our veteransand first responders.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
It's just quite incredible.
And the number of celebritiesthat support you at this point.
Are they paid celebrities or dothey come on because they want
to?
Speaker 6 (03:50):
I'm guessing no, we galvanize them based on our
mission, and they've been verygood to us in spreading
awareness as to our programs andwhat we're looking to do and
what we have done for ourinjured veterans and our fallen
first responder families, ourGold Star families and now our
homeless veterans.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Cole Hauser is an award-winning actor who has
starred in Good Will Hunting,too Fast, too Furious and the
current hit show Yellowstone.
Beyond his impressive career,he is a proud supporter of the
Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
I was able to spend some timewith Cole and his family to
reflect on those who havesacrificed so much to defend our
(04:32):
freedom.
I know how much you care aboutAmerica and our veterans and all
the things, but you have such aplatform now, yeah, and to
share that with us, that we needto get the word out that we
have to take care of these greatheroes and their families.
Speaker 7 (04:48):
You know, as I started to be more and more
successful, it was like how canI help?
But when I heard of the Tunnelto Towers and I met Brandon in
Idaho and his family, I was likewow, there's actually a charity
where we know where the money'sgoing to go.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
We have 95.1%.
Of every dollar goes to ourprograms.
Speaker 7 (05:03):
And I think Brandon's a great spokesman for T2T.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
And his wife Shannon and his two girls.
I mean, oh my God, what afamily, right, special family.
Speaker 6 (05:13):
So, pretty much, if you put your life on the line
and something goes bad, they'rethere.
That's awesome.
Yeah, they're incredible people, man.
Speaker 7 (05:20):
You saw all the stuff we put in these homes right I
was blown away and you saw allthe stuff we put in these homes
right, I was blown away and theydeserve it.
They've earned it.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Of course we give them a mortgage-free home, but
look what they gave up.
They gave up their bodies.
Speaker 7 (05:40):
So Cole, why should Americans give donate help?
Tunnel to Towers Foundation, Imean, is there any better
organization to help the peoplethat have fought for this
country and the freedoms that wehave?
It's that simple, it is thatsimple.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Let's take care of each other, and you're going to
join us on that mission.
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (05:54):
Hey, I'm Cole Hauser.
I want you to join me insupporting our nation's heroes
and their families.
It's only $11 a month.
Go to t2torg.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Give me some of the names, because it always
surprises me when people don'tknow who Tunnel to Towers are.
T2torg I'm always surprisedwhen somebody says, no, I
haven't heard of them.
I see your ads everywhere.
I'm always watching your videos.
I'm subscribed to you onYouTube.
The amount of celebrities youhave is just phenomenal because
they really believe in what youdo.
Come on, throw some names outthere.
(06:27):
Yeah, no, we've been veryblessed.
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Obviously, mark Wahlberg has been a great
sponsor of ours, andy Pettit,david Wells, jelly Roll the list
goes on and on.
We have quite a few.
A lot of people have been verygood to us over the years, you
know.
As you know, the foundationstarted in the wake of the 9-11
terrorist attacks on New YorkCity.
(06:49):
Firefighter Stephen Siller wasa Brooklyn firefighter who was
off duty that morning and he wasgoing to play golf with his
three brothers.
He heard that the South Towerhad been hit by the airplane, so
he drove his car to the base ofthe Brooklyn Battery Tunnel,
which connects Brooklynoklyn andlower manhattan.
It was closed to vehiculartraffic that day, and so he got
(07:12):
out of his car, he put 60 poundsof gear on his back and he ran
nearly four miles through theunderground tunnel into the
south tower and his body wasnever recovered.
He died saving others that day,um, and he left behind five
children.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
So from that, I didn't know he left.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
Yeah, that's, that's how the foundation began was
from that that that ultimate uhrun and that's the tunnel to
towers foundation.
You know, memorializing uh thesteps that he took um on that
day, uh to defend our country.
And so his brothers and sistersgot around a kitchen table 20
plus years ago 24 years ago now,it's amazing Said we have to
(07:52):
honor what he did for ourAmerica and they started the
Tunnels and Towers Foundation.
And from that kitchen tablewe've grown to nearly a half a
billion dollar organization.
A year.
We've given over 1,500mortgage-free homes to injured
veterans, taken over 10,000veterans, provided them with
housing assistance and access toservices.
Speaker 8 (08:12):
I'm Shane Thomas.
I work for the State Departmentdoing IT project management.
First time I met Kate was backin Tuscaloosa.
I was just coming off adeployment to Iraq and trying to
complete my bachelor's degree.
She had already been therepursuing her doctorate.
We met through veteran serviceorganizations that were trying
to get spun up in Tuscaloosa.
(08:34):
She would say that the 11thcommandment in the Hendricks
household was thou shalt jointhe Marine Corps.
Because she joined her brotherjoined.
Her father was a is a retiredMarine Corps Colonel.
The biggest reason why I marriedher was because of her heart.
She had a big one and shewasn't afraid to kind of show it
.
We learned that Matthew was onthe way and we were dating at
(08:56):
the time, had been dating forsix to nine months and when we
figured that out, that's when westarted getting real serious
and got married on May 22, 2014,.
And our son was born on July 2,2014.
So we were graduating that sameyear.
So it was time to startshipping up and shipping out.
(09:17):
She would spoil him rotten andshe loved him so much.
She wanted Matthew to staylittle and she wanted to be a
mom.
Kate was deployed to Iraq in2005.
Her getting out of the reserves, I believe in 2013, and me
(09:40):
being out getting out of theArmy National Guard was that you
could still get benefits fromthe VA for a certain period of
time, so she and I wouldmaintain status by going up and
getting our annual physicals.
Well, she was 38 at the timeand one of the VA nursing
assistants had made a commentand said hey, you know, I get
(10:03):
you're 38, and I get that we'renot supposed to give you a
mammogram until you're 45, butbecause of the fact that you've
been overseas, we're hearingstories through the VA that more
and more women are coming backand having breast cancer.
So it's probably a good idea.
I'll refer you and you can goget a mammogram January 10,
(10:23):
2018,.
She gets the call and then sheturns around and calls me and
says they found something andI've got a few other doctor's
appointments that we've gottastart going to, and that began a
whirlwind week of doctor'sappointments that went from
surgeons to anesthesiologists,to chemo school, to radiation
(10:43):
school to.
You know, this is the one-yeargame plan that we got, and the
following week after that we'recalled back in because more scan
results had come through andher oncologist at the time said
so everything we did last weekthrow away.
You've got six to ten years andthat's, and you start chemo
tomorrow.
And when she first said six toten years, I asked is that how
(11:05):
long the treatment's gonna take?
Like it's just gonna be a longhaul?
And she didn't answer andthat's when we kind of slowly
started putting the piecestogether that this is stage four
and this is the reality thatwe're forced to kind of live
with.
There was a time period where Ihad to sit him down in the room
(11:28):
and explain to him why mommywas so sick and what the side
effects meant, and I said, ifthis doesn't work, it's not long
.
And he was like, what are you?
And so we had to have aconversation like not long as in
, mommy's not going to be here.
So we just kept battling it.
Her symptoms and her sideeffects kept getting worse and
worse and worse and then finallyin I believe it was March of
(11:52):
yeah, it was March 2022, we hadrun through everything.
Her liver had gotten so badthat there was nothing else that
they could really kind of throwat it and we entered hospice.
Then she passed away April 5th2022.
Throw at it, and we enteredhospice and she passed away
april 5th 2022.
And hospice nurse came by andannounced herself to kate and
(12:15):
tried to do some examinations,but kate wasn't moving and kate
wasn't talking.
Kate wasn't.
She was breathing, but she shewasn't responsive, really.
And then that day it the wholetransition process started.
Matthew had just gotten backfrom his buddy's house and he
wanted to come upstairs and seeMama, and I tried to get him to
(12:37):
stay back because I didn't wanthim to see whatever was
happening, and he waited until Icame downstairs and say his
final goodbyes.
And then Matthew came down andhe sat down in that chair and
we've spent the last year andtwo months working through it.
We embrace the fact that theonly way out of this storm is
through it.
There's no real way, whenyou're dealing with grief or
(12:58):
something like this, to outrunit.
You can never outrun it.
Either way.
At some point or another it'sgonna catch up to you and if you
delay dealing with it, it couldbe really bad in the future.
Kate loved traveling and shemade me promise her that we
would not give up travelingafter she was gone.
So, in honor of her, every yearwe're gonna try and start doing
(13:21):
a big trip.
This year was Niagara Falls andwe drove up there and had a
great time being able to seesome sights and we're probably
never going to go back.
And that's kind of the thing is.
I want the tradition to be someplace that either we haven't
been to before or some place Ihaven't been to in a very long
time, but some big bucketlist-esque type items that we
(13:42):
can kind of go see the world.
That way, when it's time forhim to go to college, you know
he's got he's got a lot oftravel underneath his belt and
he can say I've seen, I'veunderstood that the world is
much bigger than just what goeson at home.
Kate's biggest regret that shehad had in life and her parents
and her brother and her siblingsthey will all back me up on
this was the fact that she wastwo months away in being able to
(14:06):
get full life insurancebenefits.
So she only got a portion ofthose life insurance benefits
and we were able to pay offstudent loan debt and car debt
and all this other stuff, but wedidn't have enough to pay off
the house and that was thebiggest regret that she had in
life was the fact that themortgage was still going to be
outstanding.
Tunnels to Towers called me andoffered to pay off our mortgage
(14:30):
.
I was skeptical of that becausewe had only been living here
for a few years.
It was a lot.
When they offered to pay off themortgage, I didn't trust it.
I didn't believe it until Iactually saw it.
And then, when I finally saw it, I think everybody kind of lost
it Because the one thing, theone piece of unfinished business
(14:54):
for Kate, had finally beenfinished.
If you had that one five-minuteconversation that you could
have, that would be the firstthing out of my mouth hey,
tunnels to the Tower has paidoff our mortgage.
Honey, you don't have to worry.
You can go back to.
You can go back to heaven andhave fun and know what she knows
.
My wife was kate hendricks.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
Thomas never forget and, as you said, we give 95
cents every dollar away to ourprograms how on earth do you do
that?
Speaker 5 (15:24):
I don't know.
Know of any program and I'velooked into this.
I can't find one that evencomes near so and one.
I asked you a question.
I'm going to let you answer it,I promise.
I think the other thing to knowis that when you are giving to
organizations, then just checkout how much of the money, how
much of the dollar, actuallygoes to where your intended
(15:46):
giving is going, because I knowthere are veterans programs out
there and it's great that wehave, you know, lots of veterans
programs.
Some of them it's quite commonto see 50 or 60 percent.
You're at 95.1 percent.
That's amazing.
How on earth do you do that?
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Very low overhead.
And again it all goes back toour programs.
We've been very blessed withour $11 a month campaign and our
corporate sponsorship to havereally hyperbolic growth in the
last few years.
And we have three premier, fourpremier programs.
Now Our smart home program weconstruct and design specially
(16:24):
adapted smart homes for injuredveterans.
It's all controlled by an iPadthe lights, the kitchens, the
bathrooms, everything to make ityou know, living independent
much more easy for ourcatastrophically injured
veterans.
Our Gold Star families, veteransthat don't return home from war
.
They're killed in the line ofduty.
We take care of their familieswith small children, provide
them with new homes, pay offtheir mortgages.
(16:45):
And our fallen first responderfamilies, which are police
officers, firefighters and EMTworkers that are killed in the
line of duty.
We pay off their mortgages andprovide new homes for their
families.
And now our homeless veteranprogram.
We've committed to eradicatinghomelessness amongst veterans
nationwide.
That's the program that I'mheading up and what we're doing
(17:07):
and what we've done in a verytight timeframe is basically
developed a two and now athree-pronged model.
We're going to the placesthroughout the nation where the
rates of homelessness arehighest large metro areas
throughout the nation and we'reacquiring hotels, hospitality
properties as well as raw land,and we're renovating the
existing hotels, gut, renovatingthem into permanent housing,
(17:29):
supportive housing locations forour veterans, and we're also
building new villages ofpermanent supportive housing for
our veterans.
We have over 1,500 units undersome stage of development now in
15 cities across the nation.
Many, many, many more to come.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
I was putting Gavin on the spot there.
I'd like to take you throughthe various programs on here,
and you can find this by goingto t2torg.
That's t2torg.
Once you're on there, click onPrograms and then go down to
Homeless Veteran Program or, ofcourse, any of the others you're
(18:05):
interested in.
There's a tab at the top on themenu smart home program we
talked about that one fallenfirst responder home program,
gold star family home program,homeless veteran program.
That's the one we're on rightnow.
So here we are.
In houston, texas, the tunnel totowers foundation has completed
a full scalescale conversion ofa former hotel in Houston,
(18:26):
texas, into a high-end,affordable apartment complex
which now provides permanent andtransitional housing to 131
veterans in the greater Houstonarea.
The property is equipped with acomprehensive service center on
the first floor offeringveterans a litany of needed
(18:47):
supportive services provided byUS vets.
That's amazing.
And we go down to Atlanta,georgia, and you can see
pictures of these, along withvirtual tours on their website
at t2torg.
In Atlanta, georgia, the TenorTowers Foundation has broken
(19:09):
ground on our Atlanta VeteransVillage.
We're currently in the processof renovating a 103-room home in
Atlanta, which will providepermanent housing and supportive
services to approximately 92veterans in the greater Atlanta
area.
And then we have Bradadenton,florida.
The tunnel, tunnel to andbradenton, of course, was just
(19:30):
hit as well in um, the one thatcame through after helene, and
they took a direct hit.
The name's escaping me.
Right now, the 10 altar towersfoundation has broken ground on
our bradenton veterans village.
We're currently in the processof constructing an 85-room
apartment complex andcomprehensive supportive service
(19:52):
center.
A community of 35 comfort homeswill complement the village,
providing additional permanenthousing to veterans.
And then we've got Memphis,tennessee TTT has broken ground
on our Memphis Veterans Village.
They're really busy right now,obviously, currently in the
process of converting a former120-unit hotel in Memphis into
(20:15):
permanent housing withcomprehensive support services
for approximately 105 veterans.
These are not small complexesas well, you're noticing.
Then we have Bayville, newJersey.
The T2T Foundation has beenapproved to construct a veterans
village encompassing a 98-unitapartment complex and
(20:40):
comprehensive supports servicecentre, complemented by 24
comfort homes.
So that's a 98-unit apartmentplus 24 comfort homes.
And then up to Harrisburg,pennsylvania.
I feel like I'm taking you allover the country here today.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundationis assessing an 8.5-acre tract
(21:03):
of waterfront property where weintend to construct a veterans
village encompassing a 64-unitapartment complex and
comprehensive support services.
There we go again.
Obviously common to have thosesupport services in place
throughout anything.
Tunnel to Towers does,complemented by 20 comfort homes
.
Las Vegas, nevada.
The Tunnel to Towers does,complemented by 20 comfort homes
(21:25):
.
Las Vegas, nevada.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundationcurrently under contract for a
five-acre parcel of landadjacent to the VA Southern
Nevada Healthcare Complex and isin the process of submitting
plans to the City of North LasVegas.
Come on, city of North LasVegas, let's get those through
(21:46):
as soon as we can.
Denver, colorado, has brokenground on our Denver Veterans
Village.
We've purchased property indowntown Denver which is
intended to convert intopermanent housing with
comprehensive support servicesfor over 100 veterans.
These are massive units, guys.
(22:09):
Buffalo, new York, brokenground on our Buffalo Veterans
Village.
We're currently in the processof constructing a veterans
village encompassing a 94-unitapartment complex and
comprehensive support servicecenter in Chittawaga.
I so hope I said that correctly.
Detroit, michigan, broken groundon our Detroit Veterans Village
(22:33):
, currently in the process ofconverting a hotel in Southfield
, michigan, into permanenthousing.
Of course, with thatcomprehensive supportive service
center for 88 veterans, imagineall the jobs this is providing.
Not just obviously amazingpermanent housing for the
(22:56):
veterans.
This is creating a massiveamount of jobs.
Imagine just construction alone, the kind of jobs that's
creating and the management ofthese places.
You're basically running ahotel for 88 people or 100
people or 200 people.
That obviously takes somemanagement, whatever kind of
(23:17):
form that comes in, so addingeven more jobs there.
Then we've got North Charleston,south Carolina.
This is very close to us inAsheville, we're only about four
hours away, broken ground onthe North Charleston Veterans
Village, purchased a 90 unithotel in North Charleston which
is intended to convert into apermanent housing complex, a
(23:41):
comprehensive supportive servicecentre.
Again, if you've just tuned in,we are talking about Tunnel to
Towers today, going through allof those programmes.
We're also talking to Gavin,who's the VP of the Homeless
Veterans Program.
He's heading it up for Tunnelto Towers.
We're going through all theprojects right now before we go
back to Gavin.
(24:02):
And then we've got Long Island,new York, currently assessing a
property in Nassau County whereit's intended to construct a
veterans village encompassing a42-unit complex.
It's amazing and they'retargeting actually Gavin is the
land purchaser to look for allof these.
(24:23):
Here are the targets.
I'm going to go through thesequickly because there's a lot on
here Jacksonville, florida,orlando, florida, brooklyn, new
York, sacramento, california,cleveland, ohio, bronx, new York
, west Palm Beach, florida,puerto Rico, jackson, new Jersey
, portland, oregon, charlotte,north Carolina, kansas City,
(24:47):
missouri, seattle, washington,dallas and Austin in Texas.
And then there's also affiliateprojects as well.
In Riverside, california,tunnel to Towers has provided
funds to the US Vets MarchVeterans Village located on
March Air Force Base inRiverside, california.
In Phoenix, it's providedgrants, funds and support to US
(25:14):
vets to renovate a 150-roomhotel in Phoenix, arizona, which
will serve as a permanentsupportive housing project for
hundreds of veterans in thePhoenix area.
West LA in California.
With over 11,000 homelessveterans in California let that
number sink in Eleven thousandthe T2T Foundation realized the
(25:37):
efforts would need to besubstantial enough to meet the
current problem In California.
Tenor Towers provided extensivegrant funds for a 388 acre
property in West Los Angeles,california, which is being
transformed into a communitycampus for over 3,000 veterans.
Building 207, opened inFebruary 23, provides housing
(26:00):
and services to 67 veterans.
We might only be making a denta little piece at the time.
However, clearly I'm notreading this from the website.
This is Rose speaking here.
Clearly it's going to be stepby step by step, as all of this
is built.
The full campus with almost adozen other buildings is to
(26:21):
provide over 1,700 housing unitsfor veterans.
In California, spearheaded bythe Department of Veteran
Affairs, is to provide over 715housing units for the campus.
Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
And back to that massive numberagain in California 11,000
(26:44):
homeless veterans just crazy.
In Phoenix, arizona, providedgrant funds to renovate 150 room
hotel in Phoenix.
In Austin, texas, providedgrant funds to provide 10
comfort homes to veterans onmobile loaves and fishes
property in Austin Texas, aswell as supportive services for
(27:05):
32 veterans.
Let's not forget about thosesupportive services there.
That is amazing.
Speaker 10 (27:14):
Home, Home, Something to be proud of.
Home supportive services there.
That is amazing.
I happened to step in the wrongspot and took a sniper round
into the chest.
This is the day that I was hit.
I lost my legs almostimmediately.
(27:36):
I lost my left hand and both mylegs above the knee.
My arm was gone so I closed myeyes, thinking to myself if I
just keep breathing, I will makeit home to my wife.
I just wanted to serve mycountry.
Every day I'm still adapting tothis new life.
It was hard having everybodychange their lifestyle to take
care of me.
A typical home doesn't feellike home to me.
(27:57):
They have to carry my chair upthe stairs.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
The hardest thing in my life is to have to call and
yell for my children to helppick me off the bathroom floor.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Where do you go when home isn't home anymore?
This is Mark Wahlberg.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
There are over 1,000 families that need our help.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Tunnel to Talents is honoring those heroes that
risked their lives by providingthem with mortgage-free homes.
Speaker 10 (28:16):
Yes, I'm on the waiting list to have a home
built.
It's gonna be amazing, thissmart home technology.
It makes my life a whole loteasier and it's 100% accessible.
It's built to fit my needs.
For me to gain independenceagain would be just amazing Be
able to just take care of myselfas an individual.
This home will allow me to beself-sufficient.
(28:36):
It'll help me live my life.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
It gives me back some of my dignity, who I used to be
.
There is a waiting list forhouses.
Speaker 10 (28:44):
This is the waiting list.
There are a lot of people onthat list.
Yeah, there are a lot of guyslike me out there, maybe too
many.
Gives you back your dignity,your pride, your
self-perseverance.
Thanks to Tom of the Towers,I'm going to have all these
freedoms given back to me.
Personal Safety, dignity,family Independence, confidence.
It's an American dream, isn'tit Home?
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I'd like to ask you to contribute $11 a month to
support their efforts.
Please visit tomofthetowerorg.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
Any and every veteran that may be struggling,
especially ones with smallchildren or families.
We have an internal team wherethey can call us from anywhere
in the nation and we'll providethem housing assistance to get
housed in their area.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
I didn't know that.
How do people access that ifthey'd like to get to that link?
Speaker 6 (29:30):
You can go to T2Torg and do research on our program
and we have our inquiry formthere, our application form
right there.
We receive hundreds andhundreds every single month from
a litany of sources and we'reproviding a lot of veterans and
their families with theassistance they need and with
the access to supportiveservices they need.
It's not enough to just providea house.
(29:51):
You have to really address theroot causes of why veterans are
struggling with homelessness.
Speaker 11 (29:56):
My name is Nicole Carduse and my husband is
Michael J Carduse.
He served in the Air Force for23 years.
I honestly grew up with Mike.
We went on a date and we gotmarried three months after that.
We have six kids.
They all remind me of him indifferent ways, actually, and
it's kind of beautiful.
(30:16):
Mike and I were living onAndrews Air Force Base when 9-11
happened.
Honestly, that day changed therest of our lives.
From then on, our whole worldbecame very real.
Mike was deployed twice in 2004to Qatar and then he was in
Afghanistan.
I'm very proud of Mike.
(30:37):
He did what he was called to do.
It was the man he was.
Mike came to me in March of2022 and said can you feel these
lymph nodes?
And they were swollen.
On Thursday he got a phone callthat said you have lymphoma,
you're going to need chemo.
It's treatable.
(30:57):
He died.
The next morning After Mikedied, they did an autopsy and
his death certificate reads likean oncology textbook.
It has all been contributed tohim.
Being in Afghanistan and theburn pits of Afghanistan, my
(31:18):
biggest fears were how do Ifinancially support the kids,
how do I emotionally support thekids and how am I going to just
keep our life intact?
To just keep our life intact.
And then Tunnel to Towers paidoff my mortgage on Veterans Day
(31:38):
of 2023.
I felt like I was seen, I wasbeing taken care of, that.
My service mattered to somebody.
It's life-changing Tunnel toTowers Foundation.
It's life changing Tunnel toTowers Foundation.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
Let us do good.
Well, I'd be amiss and I'll getinto all kinds of trouble
because, although we'rebroadcast nationwide, we're out
of Asheville, north Carolina,which is a place called Buncombe
County.
I mean, you've seen it on thenews recently, probably because
(32:18):
of Helene, and before Helene wehad, 40% of our homeless were
veterans.
Veterans are very dear to myheart.
I know I've got a funny accent,but my family back in the UK
served, and once you serve itdoesn't matter where you're
serving, right.
So yeah, I'd be amiss if Ididn't say we need you in
Asheville.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
Well.
So it's funny.
You say that I'm actuallyfinalizing a deal now in
Charlotte, north Carolina, for apermanent supportive housing
program we're going to createthere for veterans.
But we have provided, I think,over 70 response trailers to
Asheville to address whathappened there.
We've also sent care packages,things like that.
We don't advertise that toomuch but you know disaster
(32:52):
relief.
But we have helped Ashevilleand through, you know, the
Homeless Veteran Program withtheir veterans that are
struggling.
We're working with the crewsthere and the organizations
there that are sort of the bootson the ground to provide
assistance.
You know how they need it.
So we, especially with thewildfires in Los Angeles, we
provided a tremendous amount ofassistance out in Los Angeles
(33:14):
because you know we're New Yorkbased but we want to be able to
help out when these thingshappen.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Right, right.
I love the fact that you'regetting over on the West Coast,
because there seems to be a WestCoast East Coast divide in who
knows about Ternota Towers.
For some reason, everybody onthe East Coast seems to know
about you, whereas on the WestCoast it's like's like.
No, I haven't come across themyet.
Speaker 6 (33:33):
So yeah, and this program is really going to uh,
you know, help with that.
We have uh numerous uh veteransvillages and programs that
we're doing through the uh onthe west coast.
Uh, we're contributors of thewest la rebuild, which will
provide housing for over 3 000veterans once completed the end
of this year, as well asriversideide.
California, denver, colorado,las Vegas.
(33:54):
We have a lot of West Coastprojects that we're working on
now Phoenix, arizona we're goingto be in Tucson, houston, texas
.
We're trying to hit thesemarkets where people are really
struggling.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
Sure sure.
How did you get into this,Gavin?
Did you serve, or what drew youto it?
Speaker 6 (34:11):
No, I was in the ROTC when I was a kid, but I never
served.
I was a real estate attorney, abroker, and the foundation was
looking for someone to purchaseland.
So I said that soundsinteresting to give back, and I
was the 30th hire.
Now we have over 360 employeesWow, and 60 employees.
(34:31):
I'm heading this program up andit's been nothing.
But the platform that has beencreated by the Siller family and
the foundation to be able togive back and help is
unparalleled, because we aren'treliant on any sort of
government funding.
We're reliant on the generosityof the American public.
Hundreds and hundreds ofthousands of Americans give $11
(34:55):
a month to our foundation, andso we're able to be very, very
nimble and very responsive tothe needs.
When something happens.
If a police officer,firefighter, if a veteran gets
killed in the line of duty,their mortgage is paid off
before they're in the ground.
Speaker 9 (35:14):
My name is Jamie Spinella.
I work for Northrop GrummanCorporation.
I'm an international tradescience analyst.
I have a son named Rocco, who'seight years old.
He is a bundle of energy.
He always has a smile on hisface.
He is one of the most pleasantchildren you will ever meet.
He is just a joy.
He's wonderful.
My husband's name is JeffreyThomas Rizzo.
(35:35):
He was a firefighter paramedicwith Loudoun County Fire and
Rescue in Virginia.
Jeff was bartending at a localrestaurant and I would go there
from time to time and we justhit it off.
He was charming and funny andit just went from there.
(35:57):
One of the first things he saidto me when we met was I want to
run into burning buildings.
He was determined determined tobe a part of a fire department.
It was his passion, he loved itand he made it happen.
Jeff had just returned homefrom working a three-day shift
(36:19):
he often worked a lot ofovertime, so it wasn't uncommon
and he went upstairs.
I did what I normally did.
I took care of Rocco and puthim to bed.
We read stories and I waiteduntil he fell asleep and walked
(36:42):
out of Rocco's room and I foundJeff unresponsive.
It didn't seem real.
It seemed surreal, it seemed.
I called 911.
They had me doing chestcompressions until they arrived,
(37:09):
he just he wasn't responding.
He wasn't, there was nothing.
You have this, it just itdidn't seem real.
It still doesn't.
It feels like he's going towalk through that door any day.
About a month later, I receiveda call from the union vice
(37:31):
president.
I received a call from theunion vice president and he told
me that tunnel to towers wouldlike to help us with paying the
mortgage.
And that day I received a callfrom the organization and it was
(37:51):
beyond it.
Really, there, no explanation,there's no, there's no good way
to describe that feeling whenyour whole world has been turned
absolutely upside down.
Life, as you know, it, iscompletely different and it'll
never be the same.
And and all of the thoughts arehow am I going to do this, how
(38:14):
am I going to do this, how am Igoing to take care of our son
and continue to try and live ourlives?
It just, but having thatsupport from the organization,
having that, it's just's, it'sjust a wave of relief.
(38:35):
You can focus on your lives andnot have to worry about, about
just trying to survive.
Tunnel to towers, theirresponse and their support has
made it possible for us to live,to live and not have to worry
(38:55):
about day to day, not have toworry about trying to survive.
Now we can focus on living, Ican focus on and giving him the
life that he deserves.
Rocco is nonverbal.
(39:16):
Rocco will often point topictures of his father and he
will point, or he will grab myhand and point and he'll turn
around and look at me and smileand usually in those cases he's
learning on an assistivetechnology, so he's learning on
(39:36):
a device.
When you point to things,that's what you want or that's
what you receive.
I can't give him his father, soit's heartbreaking, it's
bittersweet.
I love that he still smileswhen he sees his dad, but the
fact that I can't, I can't, Ican't, I can't do any more than
(39:59):
that, it's bittersweet.
The tattoo was um done in honorof Jeff, um.
It is the thin red line flagand the three birds represent
Jeff, rocco and myself.
The writing came from my lastbirthday card from Jeff and that
(40:23):
is his handwriting.
It's just something that makesme smile and keeps him with me
on the left arm, closest to theheart.
What would you want to say toyour husband?
I'd want to tell him I love him.
I want to tell him not to worryabout us and we miss him every
(40:50):
day.
We miss him and I'm stillwaiting.
I just, I think I'll always bewaiting for him to walk through
that door.
Just such a personality, such asuch it, just, I, just, I, just
(41:13):
I don't.
My head and my heart can'taccept it.
I'm sure he would be overjoyedat all of the support that we've
received, from Tunnel to Towers, from the department.
I would hope he would be proudof us.
Speaker 6 (41:35):
Veteran comes home.
Smart home is double amputee,triple amputee, quadruple
amputee.
That's how our smart homeprogram began.
The first quadruple amputee wasa Staten Island resident,
brandon Morocco, and we builthim a home.
We're very responsive and we'renot tied up by so much red tape
, and so that really resonateswith the American public the
results we're able to generate.
Speaker 5 (41:54):
And there's lots of different ways we can help and
we're always trying to come upwith creative ways to help.
And I know you prefer everybodyprefers cash, right, obviously,
and I know that you have a carprogram and a land program as
well, but we want things thatwill turn into money faster,
really right.
That's really where we'd wantto be looking, even though you
(42:15):
have those programs.
So, and obviously you can go onand quite easily donate.
If you're listening today andwant to get out your checkbook
or your credit card, go on, it's$11 a month.
We also have a lot of realestate agents listening and we
run various niche.
Everybody knows, because you'veall been listening to me for
(42:36):
over a decade now we run a lotof niche cash programs and in
those cash programs, believe itor not, we find through our
funding partners that sometimespeople just say you know what?
Well, let me step back for asecond.
So, most cash programs you'relucky if you get 50, 60% of the
value of the home.
You know that as well.
(42:56):
Gavin, you're a broker.
That's a normal cash program,our cash program.
Two thirds of sellers make morethan with a conventional sale.
Of course we do conventionalsales too.
I had an old client call me aprevious client, not an old
client call me last week and say, well, do you still do
conventional listings?
I'm like, oh yes, absolutely.
(43:16):
We do conventional listings,don't worry about that.
However, we also handle thesecash offers where two thirds of
our sellers are making more thanthey make with a conventional
listing.
And sometimes they say you know, whatever, I'll just take the
cause.
You get a first check and thenwe go in and we renovate and we
do our HGVT magic, put anythingright that comes up on the
(43:36):
inspection.
So it's a certified pre-ownedhome, like a certified pre-owned
car, and then you get a secondcheck.
But we're having people come tous no-transcript it and at the
(44:17):
same time take that money andgive it to you when you know,
when somebody just doesn't wantto go through the hassle of it.
That would be amazing.
So we're training agents inthat big chunk that can be given
.
Also, I used to work with acompany called Homes for Heroes.
I was their number one agent inthe country and given back in
(44:39):
my tiny little team my amazingteam has given back almost a
million dollars.
We're trying to trip over thatmillion dollar mark and we're in
a little town in Asheville,north Carolina.
So the very cool thing there isit taught me how to market it
for many years, so now it's veryeasy whereby we can sign up our
(45:00):
clients as we go.
We can you know when we'redoing 100, 200, 300 deals a year
.
That's quite a lot of peoplesigning up, so there's nothing
stopping us as agents doing that.
$11 a month, it's way less thanmany of the other agent programs
where we give up 30% of ourcommission.
You know that's just how agentswork.
I know if you're not listening,if you're out there and you're
(45:20):
not an agent, you don'tunderstand that we give up 20,
30% of our commission to theseprograms usually, whereas with
this we're giving it.
We're signing up somebody foreleven dollars.
We can afford that because wecan do it out of the commission.
So I think that's a good model.
Have you got any other ideas,gavin, for agents, what we can
do and how we can help?
Speaker 6 (45:40):
No, I mean that that that is incredible what you're
doing so far.
We appreciate it.
You definitely get to see thefruits of your donation and the
fruits of your labor when we'reable to provide a home or pay
off the mortgage.
There's obviously large taxbenefits to doing so to
(46:01):
homeowners, which we've beenworking very creatively with, as
well as I purchased theselarge-scale commercial
properties, which we've beenworking very creatively with, as
well, as I purchased theselarge scale commercial
properties, um, but, uh, I amfamiliar with, uh, homes for
heroes as well.
Um, and just spreading awarenessis really, uh, you know, more
than enough.
Sure, sure, because, listen,there's, there's a thousand
places to put your money andthere's a lot of good
(46:21):
organizations that do, uh, youknow, a lot of good work.
Um, but people want to feelthat they are making a
difference and people want tofeel that the money that they
are giving is going to a causethat they find worthy.
So we have a tremendous amountof ways where donors can earmark
funds for the causes that theyfind near and dear to their
(46:44):
heart.
It could be a police officer ora firefighter that got killed
in their town, or it could be avillage in Denver that we're
creating.
It could be a smart homerecipient that they knew
personally.
So we provide the ability ofdonors to be able to tailor
their donation to the causesthat are near and dear to their
heart.
Speaker 5 (47:05):
That is amazing.
So you've got lots of differentchannels.
I didn't realize that either,so you're teaching me a lot
today.
Thank you so much.
And this isn't about I mean.
I want to do what we can do inWestern North Carolina.
However, we've got an amazingnetwork of thousands of agents
at Listing Royalty.
We just launched the app.
The app is live.
Guys.
It's the first week.
(47:29):
I'm announcing it because it'sthat new and this is a big
network of agents that once weactually educate them through
this and Gavin, I think what I'mgoing to do is take today's
radio show and we've got ourbeautiful mugshots on there as
well, and I'm going to get youon the app, if I can have your
permission to do that, for theagents to see it.
Speaker 6 (47:47):
That's no problem.
And, rowena, as you're talkinghere, a light bulb went off in
my head Our program, my homelessveteran program.
We, through our case managementnetwork, where any, any and
every veteran, no matter whereyou are Arkansas, asheville, los
Angeles, anywhere, puerto Rico,guam we do, you could call our
foundation and we provide youfunds to get into an
(48:10):
accommodation that suits you andyour family's needs.
You're sleeping in a van withthree children in North Carolina
.
You call us.
We're able to provide the fundsfirst month's rent, second
month's rent, security deposits,broker's fees, applications
fees.
They get them housed in theirarea and then we work with over
a thousand organizations.
If they need an attorney inAsheville, north Carolina, or
(48:31):
they need a PTSD or mentalhealth clinic in North Dakota,
or they need a drug and alcoholrehabilitation center in Idaho,
or they need an employmentopportunity in Florida, you have
this interconnected network ofwebs that can fill in where we
can't be.
But as you talk about this realestate network, right, we have
an entire housing team, butsometimes we struggle to pair a
(48:55):
veteran and their family with agood, long-term housing solution
.
So we work with realtors andreal estate agents all over the
nation to facilitate that right.
We have a John Smith in thislocation and he has a pet and
this and that, whatever.
And working with the realestate agents that are more in
tune with the sub markets rightwhere they live is very
(49:17):
advantageous to us.
So I would love to explore thatmore and get some more
visibility as to our program andhow realtors can potentially
get involved, because it wouldbe very invaluable for us to
know that we can pick up thephone and say you know, we have
a case here in Bradenton,florida.
We need someone with realknowledge in that area for
Section 8 or HUD-VASH orwhatever it is.
Speaker 5 (49:41):
Yes, it sounds like you can really get me alongside
the right person.
So my skill set is really mylove is training and coaching,
and that's where the app camefrom.
It's all about training andcoaching.
That's why you're here today,so we can bring it to all those
other agents and they can learnmore about what you're doing.
But what I'll offer to do I'lljust throw it in the ring there
(50:02):
if it's of any help at all isI'll develop a program for Homes
for Heroes that sits behindthis.
That's not paid and any agentscan take it to kind of get
certified and learn what yourprograms are.
And the great thing about an appand I know you oldies who are
listening are going oh, I don'tuse apps.
You use all kinds of apps andI've seen you and I'm not 19
(50:24):
either it's fun, it's full ofvideos and all kinds of widgets
on there and it's a bit more funthan a website.
But you can do it on a desktoptoo.
For those agents who you knowwe're getting up there a little
bit and they just prefer adesktop, that's fine as well.
But I'll develop out an entireif that would help, an entire
course for you.
You probably got presentationsalready for agents.
(50:45):
You know, teaching them abouteverything you do and I'm
guessing, with Tenor to Towers,everything you do is going to be
different in three months time,because you're growing at an
incredible rate and so many ofyou are helping and jumping into
lead up new programs likeyou're doing.
Gavin, thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (51:03):
Well, thank you, but it's not just us doing it alone.
It takes a village, as you know, and everyone marching to the
same beat, sharing bestpractices, sharing resources,
sharing information, sharingcontacts.
And we've made a promise theTunnel to Towers Foundation has
(51:26):
made a promise that if you go towork, you go to war, you put on
a uniform and you don't returnhome that day and you have small
children, we will provide you amortgage free home.
Speaker 5 (51:43):
So that's the commitment we've made to America
, and only with the generosityof America are we able to do
that.
So we appreciate it.
Well, I see that and I also.
You know I'm watching those ads, I'm watching those videos.
I encourage everybody to lookat T2Torg and also go have a
look on YouTube, but take yourbox of tissues, because it's
some hard watching.
You will learn a lot.
You'll learn about a lot aboutwhat they're doing.
(52:04):
I don't think there's that mucharound your division there yet.
Is there Gavin?
Or can you see it out therealready?
Speaker 6 (52:11):
No, there is.
If you go on the website, youcan take virtual tours.
You see all of our renderingsthat we're building.
You know all the permanentsupportive housing locations
we're going to be building.
It's going to be fitted outwith a full suite of supportive
services for everything aveteran needs entitlements,
assistance, employmentassistance, behavioral health,
case management, legal advocacy.
(52:31):
We work with otherorganizations in the same space
for pet therapy and art therapyand music therapy and cooking
classes.
It's a really comprehensivevillage that we're creating in
these large metro areas that isfully therapeutic and is
permanent housing for veteransfor whatever they need.
So there's going to be many,many coming online this year and
next year.
We have our Houston VeteransVillage, which opened last year.
(52:53):
But stay tuned because there'sgoing to be a lot of good
updates on our program.
Speaker 5 (52:57):
It's amazing and I love that you're bringing that
village together, because I knowthat when veterans come home,
the first thing they need isthat community, because they've
lost that community.
Isn't that one of the keyfactors where you're stepping
back in as a civilian and it'sjust so hard?
So having that village whereyou've got people of a common
mindset around that have youknow, seen some, some terrible
(53:18):
things that the average personwalking around hasn't seen?
Must make it so much easier.
So thank you from all of us.
You're doing just an amazingjob.
Anything I can do to help?
You've got my number.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (53:32):
Rowena, we appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (53:36):
This has been the Plain English Real Estate Show
with Rowena Patton.
Visit Rowena and post yourquestions at radioashvillecom or
call her at 828-210-1648.
This is the Plain English Real Estate Show with
your host, rowena Patton, a showthat focuses on the real estate
market in terms you can easilyunderstand.
Call Rowena now.
The number is 240-9962 or1-800-570-9962.
Now here's the English girl inthe mountains, the agent that I
would trust, rowena Patton.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
September 11th 2001.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I get a phone call by a firefighter.
He said nobody's coming home.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
The people needed our help and we were going to go
help them.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
On September 11th 2001,.
Fdny firefighter Steven Sillerstrapped 60 pounds of gear on
his back and raced on footthrough the tunnel to the Twin
Towers of the World Trade Center, where he gave his life while
saving others.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundationhas been supporting America's
heroes ever since.
We provide the survivingfamilies of fallen first
(00:55):
responders and military memberswith mortgage-free homes and
build specially adaptedmortgage-free smart homes for
America's most catastrophicallyinjured veterans and first
responders.
We're also committed toeradicating veteran homelessness
.
Come support the Tunnel toTowers Foundation at one of our
many events throughout the year.
Join us in supporting ourheroes by donating $11 a month
(01:18):
now.
Speaker 5 (01:19):
Hi everyone.
It's Rowena Patton, your friendin real estate, here with you
today on Real Estate News Radio.
This is the show you've beenwaiting for.
I've been promising to bringleadership from Tenor to Towers
onto the show, a course weproudly support through the
Listing Royalty Network, andtoday that promise is a reality.
We've got a very special guest,Gavin Naples, who leads the
(01:44):
Homeless Veterans Program atTenor Towers.
We're diving into theincredible work they're doing to
support those who served ourcountry.
Stay with us.
It's going to be an inspiringconversation.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
We're talking about the people who have put their
lives on the line for this greatcountry, the people who have
lost and paid the greatest pricefor our freedom for guys like
me to be able to go sing songsabout whatever I want to sing
about every single night, andwe're talking about an
organization that helps supportfamilies and support the people
that are running into the dangerthat the rest of us are running
away from, and that's the kindof people I want to be beside.
(02:20):
Those are the real heroes.
Man, I'm just a big fat guywith a guitar.
Hey y'all, this is Jelly Rolland I am asking you to give $11
a month to the Tunnel to TowersFoundation.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundationis committed to honoring the
dignity of the American servicemember and is committed to
helping end homelessness amongstthe veteran community and
ensure no veteran is left behind.
(02:41):
Providing a safe and dignifiedhome is an imperative part of
helping veterans who arehomeless reclaim their lives.
Donate $11 a month by calling1-844-BRAVEST or visit T2Torg.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Hi everyone.
I'm so excited today we haveGavin, who's the VP of the
Homeless Veteran Program atTunnel to Towers, with us, and
we've been trying to set up thisinterview for a very long time.
And you guys, what I love aboutyou, gavin, is that you run
this program somewhat on a shoescreen so that you can give back
(03:19):
95.1% of every dollar to theprogram.
I mean, that's unheard of,isn't it?
Speaker 6 (03:27):
It's pretty exceptional.
We run very lean.
I'm working out of a strip mallon Staten Island right now.
Our CEO is uncompensated andall the money really does go to
our programs and to our veteransand first responders.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
It's just quite incredible.
And the number of celebritiesthat support you at this point.
Are they paid celebrities or dothey come on because they want
to?
Speaker 6 (03:50):
I'm guessing no, we galvanize them based on our
mission, and they've been verygood to us in spreading
awareness as to our programs andwhat we're looking to do and
what we have done for ourinjured veterans and our fallen
first responder families, ourGold Star families and now our
homeless veterans.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Cole Hauser is an award-winning actor who has
starred in Good Will Hunting,too Fast, too Furious and the
current hit show Yellowstone.
Beyond his impressive career,he is a proud supporter of the
Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
I was able to spend some timewith Cole and his family to
reflect on those who havesacrificed so much to defend our
(04:32):
freedom.
I know how much you care aboutAmerica and our veterans and all
the things, but you have such aplatform now, yeah, and to
share that with us, that we needto get the word out that we
have to take care of these greatheroes and their families.
Speaker 7 (04:48):
You know, as I started to be more and more
successful, it was like how canI help?
But when I heard of the Tunnelto Towers and I met Brandon in
Idaho and his family, I was likewow, there's actually a charity
where we know where the money'sgoing to go.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
We have 95.1%.
Of every dollar goes to ourprograms.
Speaker 7 (05:03):
And I think Brandon's a great spokesman for T2T.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
And his wife Shannon and his two girls.
I mean, oh my God, what afamily, right, special family.
Speaker 6 (05:13):
So, pretty much, if you put your life on the line
and something goes bad, they'rethere.
That's awesome.
Yeah, they're incredible people, man.
Speaker 7 (05:20):
You saw all the stuff we put in these homes right I
was blown away and you saw allthe stuff we put in these homes
right, I was blown away and theydeserve it.
They've earned it.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Of course we give them a mortgage-free home, but
look what they gave up.
They gave up their bodies.
Speaker 7 (05:40):
So Cole, why should Americans give donate help?
Tunnel to Towers Foundation, Imean, is there any better
organization to help the peoplethat have fought for this
country and the freedoms that wehave?
It's that simple, it is thatsimple.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Let's take care of each other, and you're going to
join us on that mission.
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (05:54):
Hey, I'm Cole Hauser.
I want you to join me insupporting our nation's heroes
and their families.
It's only $11 a month.
Go to t2torg.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Give me some of the names, because it always
surprises me when people don'tknow who Tunnel to Towers are.
T2torg I'm always surprisedwhen somebody says, no, I
haven't heard of them.
I see your ads everywhere.
I'm always watching your videos.
I'm subscribed to you onYouTube.
The amount of celebrities youhave is just phenomenal because
they really believe in what youdo.
Come on, throw some names outthere.
(06:27):
Yeah, no, we've been veryblessed.
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Obviously, mark Wahlberg has been a great
sponsor of ours, andy Pettit,david Wells, jelly Roll the list
goes on and on.
We have quite a few.
A lot of people have been verygood to us over the years, you
know.
As you know, the foundationstarted in the wake of the 9-11
terrorist attacks on New YorkCity.
(06:49):
Firefighter Stephen Siller wasa Brooklyn firefighter who was
off duty that morning and he wasgoing to play golf with his
three brothers.
He heard that the South Towerhad been hit by the airplane, so
he drove his car to the base ofthe Brooklyn Battery Tunnel,
which connects Brooklynoklyn andlower manhattan.
It was closed to vehiculartraffic that day, and so he got
(07:12):
out of his car, he put 60 poundsof gear on his back and he ran
nearly four miles through theunderground tunnel into the
south tower and his body wasnever recovered.
He died saving others that day,um, and he left behind five
children.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
So from that, I didn't know he left.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
Yeah, that's, that's how the foundation began was
from that that that ultimate uhrun and that's the tunnel to
towers foundation.
You know, memorializing uh thesteps that he took um on that
day, uh to defend our country.
And so his brothers and sistersgot around a kitchen table 20
plus years ago 24 years ago now,it's amazing Said we have to
(07:52):
honor what he did for ourAmerica and they started the
Tunnels and Towers Foundation.
And from that kitchen tablewe've grown to nearly a half a
billion dollar organization.
A year.
We've given over 1,500mortgage-free homes to injured
veterans, taken over 10,000veterans, provided them with
housing assistance and access toservices.
Speaker 8 (08:12):
I'm Shane Thomas.
I work for the State Departmentdoing IT project management.
First time I met Kate was backin Tuscaloosa.
I was just coming off adeployment to Iraq and trying to
complete my bachelor's degree.
She had already been therepursuing her doctorate.
We met through veteran serviceorganizations that were trying
to get spun up in Tuscaloosa.
(08:34):
She would say that the 11thcommandment in the Hendricks
household was thou shalt jointhe Marine Corps.
Because she joined her brotherjoined.
Her father was a is a retiredMarine Corps Colonel.
The biggest reason why I marriedher was because of her heart.
She had a big one and shewasn't afraid to kind of show it
.
We learned that Matthew was onthe way and we were dating at
(08:56):
the time, had been dating forsix to nine months and when we
figured that out, that's when westarted getting real serious
and got married on May 22, 2014,.
And our son was born on July 2,2014.
So we were graduating that sameyear.
So it was time to startshipping up and shipping out.
(09:17):
She would spoil him rotten andshe loved him so much.
She wanted Matthew to staylittle and she wanted to be a
mom.
Kate was deployed to Iraq in2005.
Her getting out of the reserves, I believe in 2013, and me
(09:40):
being out getting out of theArmy National Guard was that you
could still get benefits fromthe VA for a certain period of
time, so she and I wouldmaintain status by going up and
getting our annual physicals.
Well, she was 38 at the timeand one of the VA nursing
assistants had made a commentand said hey, you know, I get
(10:03):
you're 38, and I get that we'renot supposed to give you a
mammogram until you're 45, butbecause of the fact that you've
been overseas, we're hearingstories through the VA that more
and more women are coming backand having breast cancer.
So it's probably a good idea.
I'll refer you and you can goget a mammogram January 10,
(10:23):
2018,.
She gets the call and then sheturns around and calls me and
says they found something andI've got a few other doctor's
appointments that we've gottastart going to, and that began a
whirlwind week of doctor'sappointments that went from
surgeons to anesthesiologists,to chemo school, to radiation
(10:43):
school to.
You know, this is the one-yeargame plan that we got, and the
following week after that we'recalled back in because more scan
results had come through andher oncologist at the time said
so everything we did last weekthrow away.
You've got six to ten years andthat's, and you start chemo
tomorrow.
And when she first said six toten years, I asked is that how
(11:05):
long the treatment's gonna take?
Like it's just gonna be a longhaul?
And she didn't answer andthat's when we kind of slowly
started putting the piecestogether that this is stage four
and this is the reality thatwe're forced to kind of live
with.
There was a time period where Ihad to sit him down in the room
(11:28):
and explain to him why mommywas so sick and what the side
effects meant, and I said, ifthis doesn't work, it's not long
.
And he was like, what are you?
And so we had to have aconversation like not long as in
, mommy's not going to be here.
So we just kept battling it.
Her symptoms and her sideeffects kept getting worse and
worse and worse and then finallyin I believe it was March of
(11:52):
yeah, it was March 2022, we hadrun through everything.
Her liver had gotten so badthat there was nothing else that
they could really kind of throwat it and we entered hospice.
Then she passed away April 5th2022.
Throw at it, and we enteredhospice and she passed away
april 5th 2022.
And hospice nurse came by andannounced herself to kate and
(12:15):
tried to do some examinations,but kate wasn't moving and kate
wasn't talking.
Kate wasn't.
She was breathing, but she shewasn't responsive, really.
And then that day it the wholetransition process started.
Matthew had just gotten backfrom his buddy's house and he
wanted to come upstairs and seeMama, and I tried to get him to
(12:37):
stay back because I didn't wanthim to see whatever was
happening, and he waited until Icame downstairs and say his
final goodbyes.
And then Matthew came down andhe sat down in that chair and
we've spent the last year andtwo months working through it.
We embrace the fact that theonly way out of this storm is
through it.
There's no real way, whenyou're dealing with grief or
(12:58):
something like this, to outrunit.
You can never outrun it.
Either way.
At some point or another it'sgonna catch up to you and if you
delay dealing with it, it couldbe really bad in the future.
Kate loved traveling and shemade me promise her that we
would not give up travelingafter she was gone.
So, in honor of her, every yearwe're gonna try and start doing
(13:21):
a big trip.
This year was Niagara Falls andwe drove up there and had a
great time being able to seesome sights and we're probably
never going to go back.
And that's kind of the thing is.
I want the tradition to be someplace that either we haven't
been to before or some place Ihaven't been to in a very long
time, but some big bucketlist-esque type items that we
(13:42):
can kind of go see the world.
That way, when it's time forhim to go to college, you know
he's got he's got a lot oftravel underneath his belt and
he can say I've seen, I'veunderstood that the world is
much bigger than just what goeson at home.
Kate's biggest regret that shehad had in life and her parents
and her brother and her siblingsthey will all back me up on
this was the fact that she wastwo months away in being able to
(14:06):
get full life insurancebenefits.
So she only got a portion ofthose life insurance benefits
and we were able to pay offstudent loan debt and car debt
and all this other stuff, but wedidn't have enough to pay off
the house and that was thebiggest regret that she had in
life was the fact that themortgage was still going to be
outstanding.
Tunnels to Towers called me andoffered to pay off our mortgage
(14:30):
.
I was skeptical of that becausewe had only been living here
for a few years.
It was a lot.
When they offered to pay off themortgage, I didn't trust it.
I didn't believe it until Iactually saw it.
And then, when I finally saw it, I think everybody kind of lost
it Because the one thing, theone piece of unfinished business
(14:54):
for Kate, had finally beenfinished.
If you had that one five-minuteconversation that you could
have, that would be the firstthing out of my mouth hey,
tunnels to the Tower has paidoff our mortgage.
Honey, you don't have to worry.
You can go back to.
You can go back to heaven andhave fun and know what she knows
.
My wife was kate hendricks.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
Thomas never forget and, as you said, we give 95
cents every dollar away to ourprograms how on earth do you do
that?
Speaker 5 (15:24):
I don't know.
Know of any program and I'velooked into this.
I can't find one that evencomes near so and one.
I asked you a question.
I'm going to let you answer it,I promise.
I think the other thing to knowis that when you are giving to
organizations, then just checkout how much of the money, how
much of the dollar, actuallygoes to where your intended
(15:46):
giving is going, because I knowthere are veterans programs out
there and it's great that wehave, you know, lots of veterans
programs.
Some of them it's quite commonto see 50 or 60 percent.
You're at 95.1 percent.
That's amazing.
How on earth do you do that?
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Very low overhead.
And again it all goes back toour programs.
We've been very blessed withour $11 a month campaign and our
corporate sponsorship to havereally hyperbolic growth in the
last few years.
And we have three premier, fourpremier programs.
Now Our smart home program weconstruct and design specially
(16:24):
adapted smart homes for injuredveterans.
It's all controlled by an iPadthe lights, the kitchens, the
bathrooms, everything to make ityou know, living independent
much more easy for ourcatastrophically injured
veterans.
Our Gold Star families, veteransthat don't return home from war
.
They're killed in the line ofduty.
We take care of their familieswith small children, provide
them with new homes, pay offtheir mortgages.
(16:45):
And our fallen first responderfamilies, which are police
officers, firefighters and EMTworkers that are killed in the
line of duty.
We pay off their mortgages andprovide new homes for their
families.
And now our homeless veteranprogram.
We've committed to eradicatinghomelessness amongst veterans
nationwide.
That's the program that I'mheading up and what we're doing
(17:07):
and what we've done in a verytight timeframe is basically
developed a two and now athree-pronged model.
We're going to the placesthroughout the nation where the
rates of homelessness arehighest large metro areas
throughout the nation and we'reacquiring hotels, hospitality
properties as well as raw land,and we're renovating the
existing hotels, gut, renovatingthem into permanent housing,
(17:29):
supportive housing locations forour veterans, and we're also
building new villages ofpermanent supportive housing for
our veterans.
We have over 1,500 units undersome stage of development now in
15 cities across the nation.
Many, many, many more to come.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
I was putting Gavin on the spot there.
I'd like to take you throughthe various programs on here,
and you can find this by goingto t2torg.
That's t2torg.
Once you're on there, click onPrograms and then go down to
Homeless Veteran Program or, ofcourse, any of the others you're
(18:05):
interested in.
There's a tab at the top on themenu smart home program we
talked about that one fallenfirst responder home program,
gold star family home program,homeless veteran program.
That's the one we're on rightnow.
So here we are.
In houston, texas, the tunnel totowers foundation has completed
a full scalescale conversion ofa former hotel in Houston,
(18:26):
texas, into a high-end,affordable apartment complex
which now provides permanent andtransitional housing to 131
veterans in the greater Houstonarea.
The property is equipped with acomprehensive service center on
the first floor offeringveterans a litany of needed
(18:47):
supportive services provided byUS vets.
That's amazing.
And we go down to Atlanta,georgia, and you can see
pictures of these, along withvirtual tours on their website
at t2torg.
In Atlanta, georgia, the TenorTowers Foundation has broken
(19:09):
ground on our Atlanta VeteransVillage.
We're currently in the processof renovating a 103-room home in
Atlanta, which will providepermanent housing and supportive
services to approximately 92veterans in the greater Atlanta
area.
And then we have Bradadenton,florida.
The tunnel, tunnel to andbradenton, of course, was just
(19:30):
hit as well in um, the one thatcame through after helene, and
they took a direct hit.
The name's escaping me.
Right now, the 10 altar towersfoundation has broken ground on
our bradenton veterans village.
We're currently in the processof constructing an 85-room
apartment complex andcomprehensive supportive service
(19:52):
center.
A community of 35 comfort homeswill complement the village,
providing additional permanenthousing to veterans.
And then we've got Memphis,tennessee TTT has broken ground
on our Memphis Veterans Village.
They're really busy right now,obviously, currently in the
process of converting a former120-unit hotel in Memphis into
(20:15):
permanent housing withcomprehensive support services
for approximately 105 veterans.
These are not small complexesas well, you're noticing.
Then we have Bayville, newJersey.
The T2T Foundation has beenapproved to construct a veterans
village encompassing a 98-unitapartment complex and
(20:40):
comprehensive supports servicecentre, complemented by 24
comfort homes.
So that's a 98-unit apartmentplus 24 comfort homes.
And then up to Harrisburg,pennsylvania.
I feel like I'm taking you allover the country here today.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundationis assessing an 8.5-acre tract
(21:03):
of waterfront property where weintend to construct a veterans
village encompassing a 64-unitapartment complex and
comprehensive support services.
There we go again.
Obviously common to have thosesupport services in place
throughout anything.
Tunnel to Towers does,complemented by 20 comfort homes
.
Las Vegas, nevada.
The Tunnel to Towers does,complemented by 20 comfort homes
(21:25):
.
Las Vegas, nevada.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundationcurrently under contract for a
five-acre parcel of landadjacent to the VA Southern
Nevada Healthcare Complex and isin the process of submitting
plans to the City of North LasVegas.
Come on, city of North LasVegas, let's get those through
(21:46):
as soon as we can.
Denver, colorado, has brokenground on our Denver Veterans
Village.
We've purchased property indowntown Denver which is
intended to convert intopermanent housing with
comprehensive support servicesfor over 100 veterans.
These are massive units, guys.
(22:09):
Buffalo, new York, brokenground on our Buffalo Veterans
Village.
We're currently in the processof constructing a veterans
village encompassing a 94-unitapartment complex and
comprehensive support servicecenter in Chittawaga.
I so hope I said that correctly.
Detroit, michigan, broken groundon our Detroit Veterans Village
(22:33):
, currently in the process ofconverting a hotel in Southfield
, michigan, into permanenthousing.
Of course, with thatcomprehensive supportive service
center for 88 veterans, imagineall the jobs this is providing.
Not just obviously amazingpermanent housing for the
(22:56):
veterans.
This is creating a massiveamount of jobs.
Imagine just construction alone, the kind of jobs that's
creating and the management ofthese places.
You're basically running ahotel for 88 people or 100
people or 200 people.
That obviously takes somemanagement, whatever kind of
(23:17):
form that comes in, so addingeven more jobs there.
Then we've got North Charleston,south Carolina.
This is very close to us inAsheville, we're only about four
hours away, broken ground onthe North Charleston Veterans
Village, purchased a 90 unithotel in North Charleston which
is intended to convert into apermanent housing complex, a
(23:41):
comprehensive supportive servicecentre.
Again, if you've just tuned in,we are talking about Tunnel to
Towers today, going through allof those programmes.
We're also talking to Gavin,who's the VP of the Homeless
Veterans Program.
He's heading it up for Tunnelto Towers.
We're going through all theprojects right now before we go
back to Gavin.
(24:02):
And then we've got Long Island,new York, currently assessing a
property in Nassau County whereit's intended to construct a
veterans village encompassing a42-unit complex.
It's amazing and they'retargeting actually Gavin is the
land purchaser to look for allof these.
(24:23):
Here are the targets.
I'm going to go through thesequickly because there's a lot on
here Jacksonville, florida,orlando, florida, brooklyn, new
York, sacramento, california,cleveland, ohio, bronx, new York
, west Palm Beach, florida,puerto Rico, jackson, new Jersey
, portland, oregon, charlotte,north Carolina, kansas City,
(24:47):
missouri, seattle, washington,dallas and Austin in Texas.
And then there's also affiliateprojects as well.
In Riverside, california,tunnel to Towers has provided
funds to the US Vets MarchVeterans Village located on
March Air Force Base inRiverside, california.
In Phoenix, it's providedgrants, funds and support to US
(25:14):
vets to renovate a 150-roomhotel in Phoenix, arizona, which
will serve as a permanentsupportive housing project for
hundreds of veterans in thePhoenix area.
West LA in California.
With over 11,000 homelessveterans in California let that
number sink in Eleven thousandthe T2T Foundation realized the
(25:37):
efforts would need to besubstantial enough to meet the
current problem In California.
Tenor Towers provided extensivegrant funds for a 388 acre
property in West Los Angeles,california, which is being
transformed into a communitycampus for over 3,000 veterans.
Building 207, opened inFebruary 23, provides housing
(26:00):
and services to 67 veterans.
We might only be making a denta little piece at the time.
However, clearly I'm notreading this from the website.
This is Rose speaking here.
Clearly it's going to be stepby step by step, as all of this
is built.
The full campus with almost adozen other buildings is to
(26:21):
provide over 1,700 housing unitsfor veterans.
In California, spearheaded bythe Department of Veteran
Affairs, is to provide over 715housing units for the campus.
Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
And back to that massive numberagain in California 11,000
(26:44):
homeless veterans just crazy.
In Phoenix, arizona, providedgrant funds to renovate 150 room
hotel in Phoenix.
In Austin, texas, providedgrant funds to provide 10
comfort homes to veterans onmobile loaves and fishes
property in Austin Texas, aswell as supportive services for
(27:05):
32 veterans.
Let's not forget about thosesupportive services there.
That is amazing.
Speaker 10 (27:14):
Home, Home, Something to be proud of.
Home supportive services there.
That is amazing.
I happened to step in the wrongspot and took a sniper round
into the chest.
This is the day that I was hit.
I lost my legs almostimmediately.
(27:36):
I lost my left hand and both mylegs above the knee.
My arm was gone so I closed myeyes, thinking to myself if I
just keep breathing, I will makeit home to my wife.
I just wanted to serve mycountry.
Every day I'm still adapting tothis new life.
It was hard having everybodychange their lifestyle to take
care of me.
A typical home doesn't feellike home to me.
(27:57):
They have to carry my chair upthe stairs.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
The hardest thing in my life is to have to call and
yell for my children to helppick me off the bathroom floor.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Where do you go when home isn't home anymore?
This is Mark Wahlberg.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
There are over 1,000 families that need our help.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Tunnel to Talents is honoring those heroes that
risked their lives by providingthem with mortgage-free homes.
Speaker 10 (28:16):
Yes, I'm on the waiting list to have a home
built.
It's gonna be amazing, thissmart home technology.
It makes my life a whole loteasier and it's 100% accessible.
It's built to fit my needs.
For me to gain independenceagain would be just amazing Be
able to just take care of myselfas an individual.
This home will allow me to beself-sufficient.
(28:36):
It'll help me live my life.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
It gives me back some of my dignity, who I used to be
.
There is a waiting list forhouses.
Speaker 10 (28:44):
This is the waiting list.
There are a lot of people onthat list.
Yeah, there are a lot of guyslike me out there, maybe too
many.
Gives you back your dignity,your pride, your
self-perseverance.
Thanks to Tom of the Towers,I'm going to have all these
freedoms given back to me.
Personal Safety, dignity,family Independence, confidence.
It's an American dream, isn'tit Home?
Speaker 1 (29:07):
I'd like to ask you to contribute $11 a month to
support their efforts.
Please visit tomofthetowerorg.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
Any and every veteran that may be struggling,
especially ones with smallchildren or families.
We have an internal team wherethey can call us from anywhere
in the nation and we'll providethem housing assistance to get
housed in their area.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
I didn't know that.
How do people access that ifthey'd like to get to that link?
Speaker 6 (29:30):
You can go to T2Torg and do research on our program
and we have our inquiry formthere, our application form
right there.
We receive hundreds andhundreds every single month from
a litany of sources and we'reproviding a lot of veterans and
their families with theassistance they need and with
the access to supportiveservices they need.
It's not enough to just providea house.
(29:51):
You have to really address theroot causes of why veterans are
struggling with homelessness.
Speaker 11 (29:56):
My name is Nicole Carduse and my husband is
Michael J Carduse.
He served in the Air Force for23 years.
I honestly grew up with Mike.
We went on a date and we gotmarried three months after that.
We have six kids.
They all remind me of him indifferent ways, actually, and
it's kind of beautiful.
(30:16):
Mike and I were living onAndrews Air Force Base when 9-11
happened.
Honestly, that day changed therest of our lives.
From then on, our whole worldbecame very real.
Mike was deployed twice in 2004to Qatar and then he was in
Afghanistan.
I'm very proud of Mike.
(30:37):
He did what he was called to do.
It was the man he was.
Mike came to me in March of2022 and said can you feel these
lymph nodes?
And they were swollen.
On Thursday he got a phone callthat said you have lymphoma,
you're going to need chemo.
It's treatable.
(30:57):
He died.
The next morning After Mikedied, they did an autopsy and
his death certificate reads likean oncology textbook.
It has all been contributed tohim.
Being in Afghanistan and theburn pits of Afghanistan, my
(31:18):
biggest fears were how do Ifinancially support the kids,
how do I emotionally support thekids and how am I going to just
keep our life intact?
To just keep our life intact.
And then Tunnel to Towers paidoff my mortgage on Veterans Day
(31:38):
of 2023.
I felt like I was seen, I wasbeing taken care of, that.
My service mattered to somebody.
It's life-changing Tunnel toTowers Foundation.
It's life changing Tunnel toTowers Foundation.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
Let us do good.
Well, I'd be amiss and I'll getinto all kinds of trouble
because, although we'rebroadcast nationwide, we're out
of Asheville, north Carolina,which is a place called Buncombe
County.
I mean, you've seen it on thenews recently, probably because
(32:18):
of Helene, and before Helene wehad, 40% of our homeless were
veterans.
Veterans are very dear to myheart.
I know I've got a funny accent,but my family back in the UK
served, and once you serve itdoesn't matter where you're
serving, right.
So yeah, I'd be amiss if Ididn't say we need you in
Asheville.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
Well.
So it's funny.
You say that I'm actuallyfinalizing a deal now in
Charlotte, north Carolina, for apermanent supportive housing
program we're going to createthere for veterans.
But we have provided, I think,over 70 response trailers to
Asheville to address whathappened there.
We've also sent care packages,things like that.
We don't advertise that toomuch but you know disaster
(32:52):
relief.
But we have helped Ashevilleand through, you know, the
Homeless Veteran Program withtheir veterans that are
struggling.
We're working with the crewsthere and the organizations
there that are sort of the bootson the ground to provide
assistance.
You know how they need it.
So we, especially with thewildfires in Los Angeles, we
provided a tremendous amount ofassistance out in Los Angeles
(33:14):
because you know we're New Yorkbased but we want to be able to
help out when these thingshappen.
Speaker 5 (33:18):
Right, right.
I love the fact that you'regetting over on the West Coast,
because there seems to be a WestCoast East Coast divide in who
knows about Ternota Towers.
For some reason, everybody onthe East Coast seems to know
about you, whereas on the WestCoast it's like's like.
No, I haven't come across themyet.
Speaker 6 (33:33):
So yeah, and this program is really going to uh,
you know, help with that.
We have uh numerous uh veteransvillages and programs that
we're doing through the uh onthe west coast.
Uh, we're contributors of thewest la rebuild, which will
provide housing for over 3 000veterans once completed the end
of this year, as well asriversideide.
California, denver, colorado,las Vegas.
(33:54):
We have a lot of West Coastprojects that we're working on
now Phoenix, arizona we're goingto be in Tucson, houston, texas
.
We're trying to hit thesemarkets where people are really
struggling.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
Sure sure.
How did you get into this,Gavin?
Did you serve, or what drew youto it?
Speaker 6 (34:11):
No, I was in the ROTC when I was a kid, but I never
served.
I was a real estate attorney, abroker, and the foundation was
looking for someone to purchaseland.
So I said that soundsinteresting to give back, and I
was the 30th hire.
Now we have over 360 employeesWow, and 60 employees.
(34:31):
I'm heading this program up andit's been nothing.
But the platform that has beencreated by the Siller family and
the foundation to be able togive back and help is
unparalleled, because we aren'treliant on any sort of
government funding.
We're reliant on the generosityof the American public.
Hundreds and hundreds ofthousands of Americans give $11
(34:55):
a month to our foundation, andso we're able to be very, very
nimble and very responsive tothe needs.
When something happens.
If a police officer,firefighter, if a veteran gets
killed in the line of duty,their mortgage is paid off
before they're in the ground.
Speaker 9 (35:14):
My name is Jamie Spinella.
I work for Northrop GrummanCorporation.
I'm an international tradescience analyst.
I have a son named Rocco, who'seight years old.
He is a bundle of energy.
He always has a smile on hisface.
He is one of the most pleasantchildren you will ever meet.
He is just a joy.
He's wonderful.
My husband's name is JeffreyThomas Rizzo.
(35:35):
He was a firefighter paramedicwith Loudoun County Fire and
Rescue in Virginia.
Jeff was bartending at a localrestaurant and I would go there
from time to time and we justhit it off.
He was charming and funny andit just went from there.
(35:57):
One of the first things he saidto me when we met was I want to
run into burning buildings.
He was determined determined tobe a part of a fire department.
It was his passion, he loved itand he made it happen.
Jeff had just returned homefrom working a three-day shift
(36:19):
he often worked a lot ofovertime, so it wasn't uncommon
and he went upstairs.
I did what I normally did.
I took care of Rocco and puthim to bed.
We read stories and I waiteduntil he fell asleep and walked
(36:42):
out of Rocco's room and I foundJeff unresponsive.
It didn't seem real.
It seemed surreal, it seemed.
I called 911.
They had me doing chestcompressions until they arrived,
(37:09):
he just he wasn't responding.
He wasn't, there was nothing.
You have this, it just itdidn't seem real.
It still doesn't.
It feels like he's going towalk through that door any day.
About a month later, I receiveda call from the union vice
(37:31):
president.
I received a call from theunion vice president and he told
me that tunnel to towers wouldlike to help us with paying the
mortgage.
And that day I received a callfrom the organization and it was
(37:51):
beyond it.
Really, there, no explanation,there's no, there's no good way
to describe that feeling whenyour whole world has been turned
absolutely upside down.
Life, as you know, it, iscompletely different and it'll
never be the same.
And and all of the thoughts arehow am I going to do this, how
(38:14):
am I going to do this, how am Igoing to take care of our son
and continue to try and live ourlives?
It just, but having thatsupport from the organization,
having that, it's just's, it'sjust a wave of relief.
(38:35):
You can focus on your lives andnot have to worry about, about
just trying to survive.
Tunnel to towers, theirresponse and their support has
made it possible for us to live,to live and not have to worry
(38:55):
about day to day, not have toworry about trying to survive.
Now we can focus on living, Ican focus on and giving him the
life that he deserves.
Rocco is nonverbal.
(39:16):
Rocco will often point topictures of his father and he
will point, or he will grab myhand and point and he'll turn
around and look at me and smileand usually in those cases he's
learning on an assistivetechnology, so he's learning on
(39:36):
a device.
When you point to things,that's what you want or that's
what you receive.
I can't give him his father, soit's heartbreaking, it's
bittersweet.
I love that he still smileswhen he sees his dad, but the
fact that I can't, I can't, Ican't, I can't do any more than
(39:59):
that, it's bittersweet.
The tattoo was um done in honorof Jeff, um.
It is the thin red line flagand the three birds represent
Jeff, rocco and myself.
The writing came from my lastbirthday card from Jeff and that
(40:23):
is his handwriting.
It's just something that makesme smile and keeps him with me
on the left arm, closest to theheart.
What would you want to say toyour husband?
I'd want to tell him I love him.
I want to tell him not to worryabout us and we miss him every
(40:50):
day.
We miss him and I'm stillwaiting.
I just, I think I'll always bewaiting for him to walk through
that door.
Just such a personality, such asuch it, just, I, just, I, just
(41:13):
I don't.
My head and my heart can'taccept it.
I'm sure he would be overjoyedat all of the support that we've
received, from Tunnel to Towers, from the department.
I would hope he would be proudof us.
Speaker 6 (41:35):
Veteran comes home.
Smart home is double amputee,triple amputee, quadruple
amputee.
That's how our smart homeprogram began.
The first quadruple amputee wasa Staten Island resident,
brandon Morocco, and we builthim a home.
We're very responsive and we'renot tied up by so much red tape
, and so that really resonateswith the American public the
results we're able to generate.
Speaker 5 (41:54):
And there's lots of different ways we can help and
we're always trying to come upwith creative ways to help.
And I know you prefer everybodyprefers cash, right, obviously,
and I know that you have a carprogram and a land program as
well, but we want things thatwill turn into money faster,
really right.
That's really where we'd wantto be looking, even though you
(42:15):
have those programs.
So, and obviously you can go onand quite easily donate.
If you're listening today andwant to get out your checkbook
or your credit card, go on, it's$11 a month.
We also have a lot of realestate agents listening and we
run various niche.
Everybody knows, because you'veall been listening to me for
(42:36):
over a decade now we run a lotof niche cash programs and in
those cash programs, believe itor not, we find through our
funding partners that sometimespeople just say you know what?
Well, let me step back for asecond.
So, most cash programs you'relucky if you get 50, 60% of the
value of the home.
You know that as well.
(42:56):
Gavin, you're a broker.
That's a normal cash program,our cash program.
Two thirds of sellers make morethan with a conventional sale.
Of course we do conventionalsales too.
I had an old client call me aprevious client, not an old
client call me last week and say, well, do you still do
conventional listings?
I'm like, oh yes, absolutely.
(43:16):
We do conventional listings,don't worry about that.
However, we also handle thesecash offers where two thirds of
our sellers are making more thanthey make with a conventional
listing.
And sometimes they say you know, whatever, I'll just take the
cause.
You get a first check and thenwe go in and we renovate and we
do our HGVT magic, put anythingright that comes up on the
(43:36):
inspection.
So it's a certified pre-ownedhome, like a certified pre-owned
car, and then you get a secondcheck.
But we're having people come tous no-transcript it and at the
(44:17):
same time take that money andgive it to you when you know,
when somebody just doesn't wantto go through the hassle of it.
That would be amazing.
So we're training agents inthat big chunk that can be given
.
Also, I used to work with acompany called Homes for Heroes.
I was their number one agent inthe country and given back in
(44:39):
my tiny little team my amazingteam has given back almost a
million dollars.
We're trying to trip over thatmillion dollar mark and we're in
a little town in Asheville,north Carolina.
So the very cool thing there isit taught me how to market it
for many years, so now it's veryeasy whereby we can sign up our
(45:00):
clients as we go.
We can you know when we'redoing 100, 200, 300 deals a year
.
That's quite a lot of peoplesigning up, so there's nothing
stopping us as agents doing that.
$11 a month, it's way less thanmany of the other agent programs
where we give up 30% of ourcommission.
You know that's just how agentswork.
I know if you're not listening,if you're out there and you're
(45:20):
not an agent, you don'tunderstand that we give up 20,
30% of our commission to theseprograms usually, whereas with
this we're giving it.
We're signing up somebody foreleven dollars.
We can afford that because wecan do it out of the commission.
So I think that's a good model.
Have you got any other ideas,gavin, for agents, what we can
do and how we can help?
Speaker 6 (45:40):
No, I mean that that that is incredible what you're
doing so far.
We appreciate it.
You definitely get to see thefruits of your donation and the
fruits of your labor when we'reable to provide a home or pay
off the mortgage.
There's obviously large taxbenefits to doing so to
(46:01):
homeowners, which we've beenworking very creatively with, as
well as I purchased theselarge-scale commercial
properties, which we've beenworking very creatively with, as
well, as I purchased theselarge scale commercial
properties, um, but, uh, I amfamiliar with, uh, homes for
heroes as well.
Um, and just spreading awarenessis really, uh, you know, more
than enough.
Sure, sure, because, listen,there's, there's a thousand
places to put your money andthere's a lot of good
(46:21):
organizations that do, uh, youknow, a lot of good work.
Um, but people want to feelthat they are making a
difference and people want tofeel that the money that they
are giving is going to a causethat they find worthy.
So we have a tremendous amountof ways where donors can earmark
funds for the causes that theyfind near and dear to their
(46:44):
heart.
It could be a police officer ora firefighter that got killed
in their town, or it could be avillage in Denver that we're
creating.
It could be a smart homerecipient that they knew
personally.
So we provide the ability ofdonors to be able to tailor
their donation to the causesthat are near and dear to their
heart.
Speaker 5 (47:05):
That is amazing.
So you've got lots of differentchannels.
I didn't realize that either,so you're teaching me a lot
today.
Thank you so much.
And this isn't about I mean.
I want to do what we can do inWestern North Carolina.
However, we've got an amazingnetwork of thousands of agents
at Listing Royalty.
We just launched the app.
The app is live.
Guys.
It's the first week.
(47:29):
I'm announcing it because it'sthat new and this is a big
network of agents that once weactually educate them through
this and Gavin, I think what I'mgoing to do is take today's
radio show and we've got ourbeautiful mugshots on there as
well, and I'm going to get youon the app, if I can have your
permission to do that, for theagents to see it.
Speaker 6 (47:47):
That's no problem.
And, rowena, as you're talkinghere, a light bulb went off in
my head Our program, my homelessveteran program.
We, through our case managementnetwork, where any, any and
every veteran, no matter whereyou are Arkansas, asheville, los
Angeles, anywhere, puerto Rico,guam we do, you could call our
foundation and we provide youfunds to get into an
(48:10):
accommodation that suits you andyour family's needs.
You're sleeping in a van withthree children in North Carolina
.
You call us.
We're able to provide the fundsfirst month's rent, second
month's rent, security deposits,broker's fees, applications
fees.
They get them housed in theirarea and then we work with over
a thousand organizations.
If they need an attorney inAsheville, north Carolina, or
(48:31):
they need a PTSD or mentalhealth clinic in North Dakota,
or they need a drug and alcoholrehabilitation center in Idaho,
or they need an employmentopportunity in Florida, you have
this interconnected network ofwebs that can fill in where we
can't be.
But as you talk about this realestate network, right, we have
an entire housing team, butsometimes we struggle to pair a
(48:55):
veteran and their family with agood, long-term housing solution
.
So we work with realtors andreal estate agents all over the
nation to facilitate that right.
We have a John Smith in thislocation and he has a pet and
this and that, whatever.
And working with the realestate agents that are more in
tune with the sub markets rightwhere they live is very
(49:17):
advantageous to us.
So I would love to explore thatmore and get some more
visibility as to our program andhow realtors can potentially
get involved, because it wouldbe very invaluable for us to
know that we can pick up thephone and say you know, we have
a case here in Bradenton,florida.
We need someone with realknowledge in that area for
Section 8 or HUD-VASH orwhatever it is.
Speaker 5 (49:41):
Yes, it sounds like you can really get me alongside
the right person.
So my skill set is really mylove is training and coaching,
and that's where the app camefrom.
It's all about training andcoaching.
That's why you're here today,so we can bring it to all those
other agents and they can learnmore about what you're doing.
But what I'll offer to do I'lljust throw it in the ring there
(50:02):
if it's of any help at all isI'll develop a program for Homes
for Heroes that sits behindthis.
That's not paid and any agentscan take it to kind of get
certified and learn what yourprograms are.
And the great thing about an appand I know you oldies who are
listening are going oh, I don'tuse apps.
You use all kinds of apps andI've seen you and I'm not 19
(50:24):
either it's fun, it's full ofvideos and all kinds of widgets
on there and it's a bit more funthan a website.
But you can do it on a desktoptoo.
For those agents who you knowwe're getting up there a little
bit and they just prefer adesktop, that's fine as well.
But I'll develop out an entireif that would help, an entire
course for you.
You probably got presentationsalready for agents.
(50:45):
You know, teaching them abouteverything you do and I'm
guessing, with Tenor to Towers,everything you do is going to be
different in three months time,because you're growing at an
incredible rate and so many ofyou are helping and jumping into
lead up new programs likeyou're doing.
Gavin, thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (51:03):
Well, thank you, but it's not just us doing it alone.
It takes a village, as you know, and everyone marching to the
same beat, sharing bestpractices, sharing resources,
sharing information, sharingcontacts.
And we've made a promise theTunnel to Towers Foundation has
(51:26):
made a promise that if you go towork, you go to war, you put on
a uniform and you don't returnhome that day and you have small
children, we will provide you amortgage free home.
Speaker 5 (51:43):
So that's the commitment we've made to America
, and only with the generosityof America are we able to do
that.
So we appreciate it.
Well, I see that and I also.
You know I'm watching those ads, I'm watching those videos.
I encourage everybody to lookat T2Torg and also go have a
look on YouTube, but take yourbox of tissues, because it's
some hard watching.
You will learn a lot.
You'll learn about a lot aboutwhat they're doing.
(52:04):
I don't think there's that mucharound your division there yet.
Is there Gavin?
Or can you see it out therealready?
Speaker 6 (52:11):
No, there is.
If you go on the website, youcan take virtual tours.
You see all of our renderingsthat we're building.
You know all the permanentsupportive housing locations
we're going to be building.
It's going to be fitted outwith a full suite of supportive
services for everything aveteran needs entitlements,
assistance, employmentassistance, behavioral health,
case management, legal advocacy.
(52:31):
We work with otherorganizations in the same space
for pet therapy and art therapyand music therapy and cooking
classes.
It's a really comprehensivevillage that we're creating in
these large metro areas that isfully therapeutic and is
permanent housing for veteransfor whatever they need.
So there's going to be many,many coming online this year and
next year.
We have our Houston VeteransVillage, which opened last year.
(52:53):
But stay tuned because there'sgoing to be a lot of good
updates on our program.
Speaker 5 (52:57):
It's amazing and I love that you're bringing that
village together, because I knowthat when veterans come home,
the first thing they need isthat community, because they've
lost that community.
Isn't that one of the keyfactors where you're stepping
back in as a civilian and it'sjust so hard?
So having that village whereyou've got people of a common
mindset around that have youknow, seen some, some terrible
(53:18):
things that the average personwalking around hasn't seen?
Must make it so much easier.
So thank you from all of us.
You're doing just an amazingjob.
Anything I can do to help?
You've got my number.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (53:32):
Rowena, we appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (53:36):
This has been the Plain English Real Estate Show
with Rowena Patton.
Visit Rowena and post yourquestions at radioashvillecom or
call her at 828-210-1648.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com