The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is a charity organization that helps injured veterans by constructing Smart Home Automation for them. These homes are to be constructed in a way that will enhance the living standards of a veteran given his or her disability or injury. The homes are however provided, including the interiors and exteriors without any mortgage costs owed to any bank, through the funds the foundation gets from the public. But just how much does one of these life-changing Tunnel to Towers smart homes cost to construct?

The costs involved in constructing a mortgage-free house that integrates with smart technology

It costs a lot of money to construct a home from scratch that has been specifically designed and developed to cater to an injured veteran and his or her disabilities. Even the construction costs of these smart homes can vary from $500,000 to more than $1 million. It does not include the cost of the land the home is constructed on either. Furthermore, the homes are equipped with the enhanced appropriate adaptive technologies and facilities that meet the injuries the veteran resident has. These advanced technologies of smart homes also have a significant impact on the total construction cost.

Thus, what factors make the cost so high for these homes that offer rent and mortgage exemptions for injured veterans? Here are some of the top aspects that contribute to the high costs: Here are some of the top aspects that contribute to the high costs:

  • Special access work – Ramps, lifts, wider doors for wheelchair access, showers made for wheelchair access, and bars among others are constructed to fit the disabled.
  • Smart home automation – Voice command on lighting, climate, appliances, doors, music, games, and others. Enables one to be independent without having to move around a lot.
  • Extra facilities may include therapy pools, sensory rooms, and gymnasiums adapted for disabled users.
  • Security measures such as surveillance cameras, alarms, and appropriate entry and exit points are friendly to those with PTSD.

As you can see smart home construction for an injured veteran is much more than just the fundamental expenses of constructing a home. Everything has to be arranged to suit the veteran’s mental and physical disability as these people can only live on their own. These essential customizations and specifications are the reasons that mortgage-free homes often go beyond $1 million to address all the resident’'s unique needs.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation and How it Pays

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation does not keep the staggering costs incurred to build these life-altering smart homes for injured veterans. Unfortunately, many of the veterans are either crippled or need extensive care after they are injured in the battleground and, because of the support from the donors, the foundation offers these homes hundred percent free to the qualified veterans.

It conducts many fundraising events across the United States to help the organization receive donations that will fund mortgage-free homes for the veterans. Their primary yearly fundraiser is the Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk event which attracts tens of thousands of people. A portion of the registration fees and all the funds raised are used to construct more adapted smart homes for the veterans.

Since the Tunnel to Towers Foundation started the smart homes program a decade ago, the organization has committed over $250 million to build homes equipped with features that help injured veterans move around easily. The foundation has ambitious goals of offering 100 mortgage-free smart homes to injured veterans each year and it will need around $125 million via donations every year.

The Smart Home Program and Tunnel to Towers Foundation

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is a charity organization created in memory of Stephen Siller who was an FDNY firefighter who perished in the 9/11 incident. The foundation started its smart home program in 2009 to help catastrophically injured veterans coming back home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Their purpose is to construct an intelligent home for these injured service members with life-long physical disabilities. It releases them to be on their own and it is a better quality of life despite the injuries they received while defending our nation.

The smart homes are designed in a way that would cater to every need of the specific veteran in question. The high-tech voice-activated homes offer all accommodations needed due to the recipient’s injuries, tailored to the specific injuries. For example, veterans with mobility limitations receive automated features like For example, veterans with mobility limitations receive automated features like:

  • Doors that can be opened by voice commands, lights, kitchen appliances, and even chairs that are fully manageable by a wheelchair.
  • Lifts, elevators, and ramps to help in moving around within the home environment.
  • Fully accessible bathrooms and kitchens without any steps to negotiate while in a wheelchair.

Not only the interiors of the homes are planned according to the needs of the specific veteran, but even the exterior of the home and the yard are built in a way that the veteran will be able to use it. Regarding the outdoors, there are also specific features to cater to accessibility such as; a fenced yard for service dogs where they can easily move around, covered entryways for cases when there is harsh weather, and paved paths that connect the covered patios.

These 100%, mortgage-free smart homes being granted to these injured veterans by Tunnel to Towers are helping them reclaim their independence. The idea is to get more veterans into homes and take the financial pressure off of housing so that the veterans can focus on their futures, their children, and their education.

The Effect That Smart Homes Offer Have on Veterans

Ask any of the injured veterans Tunnel to Towers has helped provide with a life-changing accessible smart home, and they will tell you the value is priceless. Not only does eradicate the housing expenses through offering a home mortgage-free aid in minimizing the financial pressures. However, the chance to live independently and not depend on other people’s help is inspiring and increases morale.

Many have major injuries that call for a lot of medical expenditures, rehabilitation, and other living expenses paid for. Tunnel to Towers offers these veterans a personalized smart house fit for their accessibility requirements, therefore enabling: Tunnel to Towers gives these veterans: a personalized smart house adapted to their accessibility requirements.

  • Affordable housing in which families have a safe, secure place to live without the additional burden of rent, mortgage, and utilities.
  • Opportunity to live independently without having to depend on either caregivers or family members.
  • The feeling of independence and privacy being proud of their own adapted home
  • This means that they have no mortgage, and no bills to pay which frees up a lot of cash that could be used to fund recovery goals.

Tunnel to Towers Foundation is on the right track to fulfilling its vision of helping injured veterans get smart homes that are adapted to their disability. However, there is a problem in sourcing the necessary funds to support these multi-million dollar homes without burdening the beneficiaries with the costs. That is why the Foundation has to receive people and companies’ support at their fundraising events in all the States.

However, it is due to the extremely kind donations from people that the Tunnel to Towers Foundation can continue to carry out its invaluable work of assisting catastrophically injured veterans. For more information about the Foundation or to find out how you can help the cause of wounded warriors, visit T2T. Org now.

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