Tunnels to Towers Tampa Tower Climb Honors the 25th Anniversary of 9/11

A 25th Anniversary Climb in Tampa

The Tunnels to Towers Foundation's annual Tower Climb took place Saturday, October 3, 2026 at One Tampa Center in downtown Tampa. The event asks participants to climb in the place of the 343 firefighters killed on 9/11, and this year it carried the added weight of the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Local outlets, including FOX 13 Tampa Bay, covered the climb and the stories behind it.

The climb honors Stephen Siller, the FDNY firefighter who strapped on his gear and ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, and never made it home. His family created the Tunnels to Towers Foundation to carry his legacy forward, and every Tower Climb, 5K, and mortgage payoff exists because of that single act of service.

A Year of Milestones Behind Us, More Ahead

The Tampa climb closes a September of remembrance and action. The foundation paid off 55 more mortgages for fallen first-responder families on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, delivered its 25th Anniversary NYC 5K Run & Walk on September 27, and, earlier in the month, brought its first-ever West Coast 5K to Huntington City Beach on September 19. By the end of 2026, the foundation says it will have delivered more than 2,000 mortgage-free homes to hero families, with 343 homes delivered this year alone, one for every FDNY member lost on 9/11.

I covered the full October picture in Tunnels to Towers Delivers 2,000 Mortgage-Free Homes: October 2026 Milestones, including the two big dates still ahead: the Detroit Veterans Village grand opening on October 21 and the Northfield, New Jersey Veterans Village groundbreaking on October 28. Those are not numbers on a page. They are roofs, stability, and the quiet dignity of a home for families who have carried the heaviest burdens of service.

Why This Mission Matters in Southern California

Southern California has been part of this story all year. The Huntington Beach 5K in September brought the mission to our coast for the first time, and the Steel Across America tour carried a World Trade Center beam through the region earlier in the year. For those of us who live here, service is not a distance event. It is showing up for the veteran applying for a VA loan, the first responder buying a first home, and the family navigating a relocation after military orders.

That is why I do this work the way I do. Real estate is about people, not just properties, and a stable home is often the foundation every other good thing in a family's life stands on. Service Before Self is not a slogan to me. It is the standard, whether I am standing with a client at a closing table or cheering on the foundation's work from across the country.

How You Can Support the Mission

You do not have to run a tower climb to make a difference. You can donate directly to the foundation at t2t.org, join a local 5K or climb when it comes near you, or simply share the mission with someone who has never heard of it. And if you are a veteran, first responder, or family member of one, and you have questions about homeownership, I am here for that conversation too. How can I serve you?