Celebs, Lawmakers Team Up With Tunnel To Towers In #EnlistMe Campaign For Injured Vets
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- There's a new social media campaign sweeping the nation, #EnlistMe. It's goal is to help catastrophically injured service members get their independence back by building smart homes.
Senators and stars, including CBS' own Stephen Colbert stepped up to join the campaign, CBS2's Vanessa Murdock reported. They can be seen on social media making the American sign language symbol for house.
It's part of a campaign that involves enlisting their names to unlist, or remove the names of catastrophically injured service members from a waiting list.
"We have a book full of young kids waiting for the call," Frank Siller said.
Siller is the CEO of the Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers Foundation.
He explained that there are more than 200 names on a list waiting for homes.
"Triple, quadruple amputees that paid a big price for our freedom and we need to put them in these smart homes," he said.
Smart homes like the one built on Staten Island for Army Sgt. Bryan Dilberian.
Dilberian lost both legs and his left arm when an IED exploded in Afghanistan in 2011. It's been a long journey, but now he's home, Tunnel To Towers handed him the keys on September 11. He said it's changed his life.
"All these things that they put in; the sink and stove lower for wheelchair accessibility. There's an elevator, everythings computerized. It's amazing, there's nothing that I can't do," he said.
Dilberian hopes #EnlistMe continues to thrive and donations pour in.
"We come with an extent of injuries, we do need help. Nothing's ever going to be easy being injured like this, but is an ease on my mind. A house like this makes it that much easier on me, my family," he said.
GMC started the campaign.
"Too many severely injured servicemen and women are returning to homes that just don't meet the needs of their individual conditions," they said in a statement.
Could a simple hashtag make so much possible? GMC, Tunnel To Towers, and more than 200 catastrophically injured service members waiting for smart homes hope so.
Each home costs more than $500,000 to build, about $75,000 of that is spent on smart technology.