Turning a new page: Disabled veteran receives gift of a mortgage-free home

After a spinal cord injury in 2012, an Air Force veteran receives the gift of a custom-built home that will accommodate his needs.

Friday, February 14th 2025, 6:40 pm

By: Mike Glover

“I damaged my spinal cord at the C-4 through C-6 level,” said Air Force veteran TJ Williams.

It was Nov. 29, 2012, the day that changed the life of Air Force veteran TJ Williams, when the Humvee he was riding in had a severe rollover accident.

“Humvees are made to take bullets; they’re not really made to withstand a rollover,” said Williams would face months of physical therapy. A couple of years ago he was on his monthly Zoom support group call when he heard about a mortgage-free home program, so with very low expectations he applied.

“A month later I got a random call from New York City, and I was like this is probably a telemarketer, I was telling my wife, and she said yeah, that’s definitely a scam, don’t answer that,” said Willaims.

Eventually, contact was made with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, and today, TJ and his family moved into their brand-new home mortgage-free.

“The look on Hope’s face and TJ’s face is that they don’t have to think about their mortgage,” said Pay Clansy with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

The family’s current home presents challenges for TJ’s mobility.

“The house we’re in now, I’ve beaten up the walls,” said Williams.

But the family’s new home is accessible.

“You know it’s all handicap accessible; it’s got all the features that will help me be independent as possible and help take the burden off my wife,” said Williams.

“I’ve been excited since April of last year,” said Taber LeBlanc, owner and president of Homes by Taber.

Homes by Taber built the family’s new home.

“It definitely is special to see the life changes it is going to make for the Williams family. I can tell you it brought the tears to my eye,” said LeBlanc.

“He can control the thermostat because he gets cold because he has the spinal cord injury so he can’t regulate his temperature all the time,” said TJ’s wife Hope Williams.

As TJ and Hope learn the ins and outs of their new home, their boys are having no problem settling in.

“It’s a really big blessing. Very big,” said Hope.