"I'm getting out. I'm coming home."
Those were the final words of William Lawrence Fallon Jr. before he was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center 25 years ago.
He worked as an IT manager for Cantor Fitzgerald and was just 38 years old when he was killed.
His daughter, Kayla Fallon Smith, was 8 years old when she learned her father would not be coming home.
Before the attacks, Smith, now 33, said her father – who always commuted to work early – would call the house phone in the morning to wish her and her sister well before they would head to school.
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"As I was getting my graduate degree, I started to experience equine-assisted therapy, and I really — it just clicked for me," she said.
She went on to say, "I never experienced that as a kid, and I had a lot of trauma therapy growing up. The resources were abundant for 9/11 victims, and I never experienced equine therapy."
She started her organization in 2019.
"I needed a place to just be when my brain always felt on fire. I think I've created that, and it's seeming to resonate with other people."
Trails of Purpose has offered 30,000 hours of free mental health counseling and equine-assisted therapy to military members and first responders.
"The horses, and the connection that they have when words don't seem to come, the horses can just be with you," she said.
"I created the thing that I think I needed: community and understanding, and a place that's safe and quiet, and a respite," she said.
As she helps others heal, Smith said she'll never stop sharing her father's story.
"If we can remember the feeling that we had on September 12th, I think that would be my biggest point of education for the next generation."