Tunnels to Towers helps family of firefighter who passed away pick up the pieces

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Jenny Williams completed the annual Tunnels to Towers 5k Race in Clearwater alongside her two sons and family.

Clutching his helmet and wearing race numbers that honored his tag numbers, she walked in honor of her late husband Patrick Williams who worked as a firefighter in Kansas City before passing away in February 2018.

"He was our rock," Williams said. "He would do anything for anybody, he would help anybody and that was his job...to save lives, and he ended up losing his life because of that." 

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Patrick and Jenny had plans to move to Florida with their children that same summer, so Jenny and the boys went. They soon found the support of the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, who gave them an opportunity to start fresh.

After being moved by her story, they granted Jenny a mortgage-free home to be built in their brand-new "Let us Do Good' village in Land O'Lakes. The 96-home community is the first of its kind to be built in the U.S. dedicated to families of fallen first responders and military service members. 

"It took so much burden off of us and gave us hope and purpose in the pain," Jenny added. 

She continues to share her and her husband's story at Tunnels to Towers events held across the Bay Area. She says she's forever indebted to their mission of helping families just like her and Patrick's.

"One of the things he said before he passed away was 'I don't care what the children end up doing in life, I just want them to love god and do good' and now we get to be a part of a village called 'The Do Good Village," Jenny said.