The organization Building Homes for Heroes announced today that under its newly expanded mission it would be paying down the mortgage for the widow of an FDNY firefighter who was killed in North Carolina.

Casey Skudin was a decorated firefighter who was killed earlier this year on a family vacation when a heavy tree limb fell in a windstorm, crashing through the roof of the family's vehicle. Skudin had planned the trip to celebrate his 46th birthday on Father's Day.

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The nonprofit will now help Angela Skudin pay her mortgage. Building Homes for Heroes has been constructing, building and modifying homes for injured military veterans and their families for 17 years.

"In an instant, I lost the love of my life," Angela Skudin said. "There have been moments since then when it all feels too overwhelming. This outreach from the Building Homes for Heroes team not only honors my late husband's service, but it keeps us in our home so we can focus on healing."

Building Homes for Heroes says the Skudin family has faced challenges because Casey was short of the 20-year mark needed to secure a full pension from the FDNY. Skudin's son suffered spinal fractures in the accident and has other medical issues.

"Casey and Angela's story is tragic, and it underscores the importance of our decision to take our home-for-veterans' program and expand it to first responders and their families," said Building Homes for Heroes' Andy Pujol, who founded Building Homes for Heroes after volunteering in the search-and-rescue of 9/11 alongside the FDNY and NYPD. "It's extra special for our organization, based in Island Park, to help a family here in our own coastal community."

Building Homes for Heroes built its 300th home for a veteran in September and is focused on delivering more homes in the next year, including No. 343 around Sept. 11 to honor the 343 members of the FDNY who died.