Second Wind, a Tompkins County nonprofit, plans to finish construction of its four-unit house in the town of Dryden before this summer, providing unhoused women and children with a new residence and a supportive community.
According to Executive Director David Shapiro, Second Wind initially anticipated finishing construction in the summer of 2023, having broken ground in November of 2022. However, due to a lack of volunteers with construction experience and funding to hire professional labor, the project was delayed.
Carleton Perkins ’24, a frequent volunteer at the project after discovering the initiative through Cru Cornell, a Christian ministry on campus, said that winter weather also presented challenges.
“They always need a foreman to help teach all the volunteers what to do,” Perkins said. “[And] when it gets to the winter months, sometimes they don’t want as many volunteers there for safety reasons.”
J.W. Betts, a campus minister and team leader with Cru, has recruited volunteers from Cornell and SUNY Cortland since Second Wind’s founding in 2012.
“I think that we all wish that the construction of the house had gone faster,” Betts said. “But at the same time … it’s amazing how much has been done with volunteers. We love being a part of it.”
Shapiro spoke highly of the volunteer foremen — experienced construction supervisors — on the construction site. He highlighted Dave Plumeau, a retired engineer from the nearby Cargill Salt Mine, who has played a fundamental role in advancing construction as the Dryden volunteer site leader since October 2022.
“These retired guys that are helping us out [are] just amazing,” Shapiro said. “They’re doing a real job, [and] they’re doing it out of what’s inside their body and heart and spirit.”
The Dryden House has been largely made possible by the generosity of Tompkins County community members. The house’s lot on West Main Street was donated by the owners of Sumo, a local Japanese restaurant, and its architectural plans were developed by Jeremy Huelin ’23, free of charge.
“We rely on folks to come and help us out,” Shapiro said. “About 150 donors really helped us raise the lion’s share of the funds that were set aside for this project.”
The project’s grant benefactors include the Community Foundation of Tompkins County, Social Service League and City Federation of Women’s Organizations, among others.
According to Shapiro, Second Wind has raised more than $415,000 for the Dryden House since 2019. Using part of this awarded money, Second Wind recently hired sheet rockers to apply wallboard to the building’s interior.
As the house nears completion, the non-profit has begun to prioritize professional labor over volunteers. Perkins spoke of formerly volunteering at the construction site each Saturday in past semesters. This spring, he’s considering new ways to contribute.
“We’re starting to shift into a new form of volunteering, [including] bringing cooked meals for the workers,” Perkins said.
Second Wind is currently taking applications for residents through their website. However, Shapiro said that most incoming residents become established with Second Wind through the non-profit’s staff, who build relationships within Ithaca’s homeless community.
One woman who will soon live and work in the Dryden House formerly lived in the “Jungle,” an Ithaca homeless encampment less than two miles from Cornell’s main campus.
“She’ll be our first resident [and] our support person that works there as well,” Shapiro said. “She’s [hoping] to give back to people like her.”
One of Second Wind’s main goals in constructing the Dryden house is to provide housing for women and children beyond their Newfield cottages, which house only men. Shapiro mentioned that the Dryden House may also provide mothers who have “lost children along the way” with “a step towards getting reunited with their kids.”
“It’s just exciting to see one day, how [these women’s] lives will be changed for the better, and their children too,” Perkins said.
Shapiro addressed local conversations on the issue of homelessness in the context of Ithaca’s housing landscape.
“There’s no doubt that there is not enough housing in Ithaca and that the housing we have is too expensive for most people,” Shapiro said. “But our project is just a small piece of housing in a community that needs so much more.”
Looking to the future, Second Wind aims to expand their mission which is to “build relationships by walking with homeless and at-risk friends toward restored lives” beyond New York State.
“We’d like to see Second Wind everywhere, because we think people need what we’re offering,” Shapiro said. “What we think people need is relationships, community and for society to care.”