New York Police Det. 1st Grade Omar Edwards.
EASTON, Pa. – A fallen police officer’s family in Easton will no longer have to worry about the mortgage on their home or the cost of college. It’s all part of an effort to observe the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 and give back to the loved ones of fallen first responders.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation says it is paying off the mortgage of the Easton home for the family of New York Police Det. 1st Grade Omar Edwards.
Edwards was shot and killed on May 28, 2009, when he was in street clothes and attempted to chase a man who had broken into his car, the Foundation said. Plainclothes officers patrolling nearby noticed the pair, mistook Edwards for a perpetrator, and ordered both men to stop. Det. Edwards turned toward them with his gun in his hand, and one of the officers shot him.
Edwards was posthumously awarded the New York Police Department Medal of Honor and promoted to Detective 1st Grade. In addition to his wife, Danielle, he is survived by two sons, who were under 2 years old at the time of his passing.
The support for the Edwards family is part of Tunnel to Towers’ commitment to provide 343 mortgage-free homes this year — one in memory of each of the 343 New York City Fire Department heroes who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Twenty-five years later, Tunnel to Towers is keeping its promise to never forget the nearly 3,000 people who were taken from us on September 11th, including my brother, FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller,” said Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. “While we look back, we also look forward, standing beside the families of heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice over the last 25 years and making sure their children will always have a safe place to call home.”
In addition to paying off the family’s mortgage, the Foundation’s Mae and George Siller Scholarship Program will provide full scholarships for undergraduate degree programs and certified and accredited trade programs for Edwards’ children.
“Extremely grateful,” Danielle Edwards said of the foundation’s support. “This means so much to my family and reminds me we are not alone in this.”
Created after 9/11, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children and by building specially adapted “smart homes” for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders. Children of the Foundation’s home recipients are also offered full scholarships.