Disabled veteran presented with customized home in Menifee

Corporal Timothy Jeffers joins personnel in saluting the flag outside his new home in Menifee. Menifee 24/7 photos by Doug Spoon

Representatives of a foundation that supports disabled veterans, along with Woodside Homes and local officials, gathered on Monday to hand the keys to a mortgage-free home to USMC Corporal Timothy Jeffers.

Jeffers, who has been living in the San Diego area, selected Menifee as the site of a new home specially designed to meet his physical needs through the Smart Home program of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The organization is named for Siller, a New York City firefighter who died during rescue attempts at the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Jeffers, who is single, was severely wounded in an IED explosion in Iraq in 2006. He lost both legs and is confined to a wheelchair, which of course limits his mobility in a household environment. The home provided for him by Woodside Homes and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation features kitchen appliances placed at a height accessible to Jeffers in his wheelchair. It also has a bathroom that includes a "roll-in" shower, window shades that are operated remotely from a tablet, and other features.

Escorted to his new neighborhood in a caravan led by veterans on motorcycles, Jeffers was emotional when asked to say a few words to a crowd that spilled out from the home's driveway all the way across the street, with television cameras focused on a podium in front of the home.

"I really don't know what to say," Jeffers said to the crowd as his voice shook with emotion. "I planned on joining the Marines, I think, at 14. Thinking about 9-11 was scary, but I wasn’t going to let it hold me back. My job in the Marines was a vehicle commander providing security for logistic convoys.

"I wondered, is this day really going to happen? I never knew. Thank you, Stephen Siller. I appreciate everything all of you have done."

One of the speakers during the ceremony outside the house was Jack Oehm, a retired Battalion Commander of the New York City Fire Department and board member of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

"It’s because people like you, young men and women who volunteered to go into harm’s way, that all of us in America can enjoy the freedoms and liberties that, quite frankly, we take for granted sometimes," Oehm said. "Tim, you are a true American hero. Welcome home, Marine, welcome home."

At Jeffers' request, one of the speakers was USMC First Sergeant Imhotep Woodby, who served in the same unit as Jeffers in the Marine Corps.

USMC First Sergeant Imhotep Woodby addressed the crowd at Monday's ceremony.

"Timothy came to us from the reserves," Woody recalled. "All of his leadership came off the drill field, where we were training recruits. So the team we established had no choice but to be extremely disciplined, and it was the best unit I’ve served with. They were called the untouchables for a reason. Meaning untouchable in the mind, in the soul and in the spirit. Tim has shown he still upholds the concept of being untouchable."

As Jeffers first entered his new home, he was awestruck at the wide doors and halls, the modified fixtures and the furnishings available to him.

Craig Rhoades, the project manager for Tunnel to Towers, was on hand to explain all the modifications.

"One of the main objectives is to make the veteran as independent as possible with these features," Rhoades said. "The lighting, the stereo system, the TVs, all are operated off one tablet. All the window treatments, the central air, everything."

Prior to a ribbon cutting ceremony at the front door, local resident Anahi Rodriguez sang "God Bless America" as an American flag presented to Jeffers was raised on a flagpole outside his new front door.

Tim Jeffers' first tour of his new home was documented by members of the media.

One of the customized elements of Tim Jeffers' new home is a roll-in shower.

Tim Jeffers takes a look inside his spacious roll-in pantry.

A large crowd watched from the street as the ceremony was held.