Long Island FDNY widow launches foundation to support families of first responders and military heroes

Now she’s coming to the rescue.

A Long Island FDNY widow has turned her grief into purpose — launching a new foundation to support families of first responders and military heroes who’ve lost their loved ones.

Christine Floyd co-founded the Resilient Hope Foundation after she lost her husband Derek, a former Marine and FDNY probationary member, in 2024.

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The foundation held its inaugural event on the weekend, where nearly 100 widows and their families brought their kids to an indoor playground in Flushing, Queens.

“I wanted to find people we could walk along with and say, ‘hey, just because tragedy happens doesn’t mean we can’t live a beautiful life,” Floyd, of East Northport, told The Post.

Floyd’s husband died of a heart attack at just 36 years old — only months after he was fired as part of the city’s effort to free up funds for its migrant crisis.

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His sudden death left Floyd and their two kids struggling to keep a roof over their heads.

“Among widows, we don’t say we move on… but we do move forward,” the brave mom said.

“I think that’s the central message that I really want to get across to all of our children. Yes, there are things in life that will be tragic, but you’ve just got to keep going and it will be okay.”

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Floyd said she was floored to see such strong support from the NYPD, which closed off the street outside Royal Magic Castle playplace to accommodate all the volunteers and attendees.

“Oh my goodness. People came from two hours upstate, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Long Island — Suffolk, Nassau, from all over,” added the 35-year-old elementary school guidance counselor, who is “so thankful to everyone who believes in this mission.

“As a solo parent on this journey, you’re really trying to take a really holistic approach to raising your children and make sure they have everything that they need.”

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Sounding the alarm

Floyd described how she felt the profound call to action about two months after the loss of Derek, whom she had met as a stranger on a subway platform many years ago.

“He would always say to me, ‘make sure you take care of the kids,'” the mom recalled of conversations about their two little ones, Ethan and Abby.

The single mother knew something had to be done once her 7-year-old Ethan began asking questions and even said, “‘I want to meet children who don’t have a parent like me.'”

Floyd added she was overwhelmingly grateful for the various organizations that financially helped her family.

A devout Christian, she said the family of three would pray nightly for every person who had assisted them — but realized this was a void that money couldn’t fulfill.

“Early on, I had been looking for a community of young widows with children around the same age,” she said.

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“At the time I couldn’t find it — and I knew I wasn’t the only one looking.”

She recruited the help of former NYPD detective Liz Toro, who now runs a babysitting network in Nassau County.

The two powerhouse women created the Resilient Hope Foundation.

“It was kind of like God put us together,” said Floyd, who added that the Uniformed Firefighters Association, which previously provided her family relief, was also quick to contribute through its FDNY Firefighters Foundation relief fund, which Floyd was the initial recipient of last Spring.

The Police Benevolent Association also pledged to help.

“Ethan felt so happy, he felt that he wasn’t alone and very connected on Saturday. The most important thing now is modeling resiliency to our children,” she said.

The next major initiative Resilient Hope Foundation plans to tackle is helping widows find properly vetted childcare, with Floyd saying it is “such a need” among the community.

“I have gone through a gamut of babysitters…it’s really challenging. I’ve known widows to stop working because of childcare,” she said.

“We hope to also provide a network of background checks, certified, cleared babysitters for these families.”

The mom is also aiming to expand her mission nationwide — and knows that Derek would be proud of her profound effort.

“I think he would be surprised I started a foundation — but not too surprised.”