Follow the footsteps of an American Hero

The New York Foundling’s Stephen’s House honors the extraordinary courage and legacy of New York City Firefighter Stephen Siller On the morning of September 11, 2001 Firefighter Stephen Siller was off duty, having just finished an overnight shift. He was headed home to Staten Island to his wife and five children, and then to join his older brothers for a round of golf.

Picking up the news on his scanner, he turned his truck around and drove toward the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. When he realized that no vehicles were being permitted to enter the tunnel, he strapped his 60 pounds of gear to his back and ran along the catwalk toward the World Trade Center. Thousands of lives were saved that day, but this was not to be Stephens’s fate.

Stephen Siller’s heroic, fateful steps on that clear fall day were a continuation of how he lived his all too brief life. Day in, and day out, he brought great light to those around him - through his tremendous passion for life and his ability to love others selflessly.

Stephen’s journey to adulthood wasn’t easy. But he learned through death, pain and suffering what mattered most. By the time he was 10, his mother and father both had died. His teenage years were a great struggle as he tried to find his way. With the love and support of his six older siblings, he learned that love transforms and that adversity can be overcome. He gained extraordinary inner strength and resiliency and grew to be a remarkable man, experiencing deep and abiding peace and joy.

This man, with an indomitable sprit, an infectious laugh, and a heart of gold lost his life at age 34. But his legacy of love extends now into the lives of other children who also face loss, pain and turmoil through the work the of the Stephen Siller, FDNY ”Let us Do Good” Children’s Foundation, The Foundation is guided by the principle that every child matters, and that every child can benefit from the power of caring. In keeping with that principle, the Foundation has joined in partnership with The New York Foundling to establish Stephen’s House, which will provide a caring environment and the supports our City’s most vulnerable children need to find their own inner strength and resiliency. Help Us…help them. Follow the footsteps of an American Hero.

Support the Campaign for Stephen’s House of The New York Foundling.

For more information contact Lynn DeLuca by phone at (212) 886-4037 or by e-mail at lynn.deluca@nyfoundling.org