Tunnel to Towers Delivers Mortgage-Free Smart Home to Injured Navy Veteran

NEW YORK [FEBRUARY 13, 2024] – On February 13, a day before Valentine’s Day, join the Tunnel to Towers Foundation in welcoming Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jerry Padgett II, his wife of nearly 20 years, Shelly, and their son, into their new mortgage-free smart home in the Let Us Do Good Village in Land O’Lakes, Florida. Padgett enlisted in the Navy in May 2001 and deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan.

In June 2006, while on patrol, Jerry was injured in an improvised explosive device blast in Afghanistan. He suffered a spinal cord injury, a traumatic brain injury, and audio and visual impairments.

During his recovery, he fell in love with adaptive sports, including hand cycling. He also enjoys spending time with his son, solving escape rooms, building legos, kayaking, and fishing. Join us on February 13th to celebrate the Padgett family starting their next chapter in the Let Us Do Good Village.

Padgett’s current home has narrow hallways making it difficult for him to get to his son’s room and other parts of the home in his wheelchair. His new smart home is outfitted with automatic doors, zero thresholds, and wider hallways, allowing him to freely move through the home in his manual or power wheelchair. The kitchen features lower counter space, pull-down cabinet shelves, and a stove that rises and lowers to wheelchair height. The home’s lights, thermostat, and security system can be controlled via an app allowing him to control many aspects remotely, giving him greater independence and control of his home.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation Let Us Do Good Village will be a community of nearly 100 homes provided mortgage-free to our nation’s catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, as well as America’s Gold Star and Fallen First Responder families. Construction is on track to have two dozen completed homes by the end of the year. The entire village is designed to be accessible with wider sidewalks and curbs making it an ideal community for injured veterans.

Join us on our mission to provide mortgage-free homes for our nation’s heroes and the families they leave behind by donating $11 per month at T2T.org