Sarah, Cedar, and Isabel: A Home of Our Own

Eight  years ago, Sarah Costonis, pregnant with her son Cedar, now 7, drove with her daughter, Isabel, now 13, from Florida to Ithaca. Sarah says, “We love Ithaca. It’s a wonderful community where I can raise my kids!”

 Throughout Sarah’s entire adult life, she dreamed of someday owning her own home. Whether it was dealing with dilapidated farmhouses overrun by critters, tiny, overpriced rentals, or unscrupulous landlords who pocketed her deposits, it seemed like one challenge after another made the dream always out of reach. Without the support of family or a two-income household, and juggling work around parenting, Sarah wondered if Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins & Cortland Counties might someday include her and her children in their flock.

“My sister volunteered with H4H in Guatemala when I was just eight, and the idea of community supported affordable housing — neighbors building houses with neighbors — it just seemed great to me,” Costonis said. “I couldn’t wait to grow up and help others build houses, too. I looked into volunteering with Habitat, but once I had my own kids as a single mom, I was just treading water and couldn’t really offer my time to volunteer until my youngest was older. I saw this White Hawk build for Habitat advertised in a Facebook event on a Sunday morning, and it was like a thunderbolt hit me. I grabbed my kids, left the cereal bowls on the table, and ran to my car to drive straight to White Hawk to meet Liz and get a walking tour.

“I knew I wanted a real home for my kids, especially in a neighborhood like White Hawk, more than I have ever wanted anything, other than my kids. COVID interrupting my ability to work during the shutdown, and with kids not in full-time school, threw my income off, so I was denied a mortgage for the first year. I worked double hard to get approved that second year! Then my daughter began to struggle with a major illness and that has been a difficult hurdle also. But despite it all, Tompkins and Cortland County’s H4H was so supportive. They took us with our challenges and made it all work.

“Our home is part of EcoVillage’s wonderful White Hawk Neighborhood. All the people we met were so intelligent and caring. Decisions that affect the entire community are made by consensus, so we keep thinking, collaborating, and working on an issue, until we can all agree. Together we have purchased a neighborhood truck, which can be used for snowplowing …One neighbor is working towards a NYSERDA/NYSEG project to provide geothermal heat pumps for White Hawk. Hopefully, if our plan is successful, it can be a model for other rural communities.”

As Isabel heads off to her favorite horses at Painted Bar Stables in Burdett, and Cedar is headed to the Skate Park, Sarah waves goodbye.

Elizabeth Warner, the Family Services & Volunteer Coordinator for H4H,  fills in more details on Sarah, Cedar, and Isabel’s new community: “H4H  embarked on a unique building opportunity in 2022; building an affordable home for a Habitat homebuyer in White Hawk Ecovillage. This partnership had been years in the making, and after selecting Habitat homebuyer Sarah Costonis, Habitat broke ground in July of 2022. The house is slated for completion by the end of summer 2023.

“White Hawk Ecovillage in Danby, NY, sits on 120 acres, collectively owned, and stewarded by community members. Homes are individually owned on 99-year leased land lots situated around a common “center circle” recreational area. The village is slated for thirty homes total, about half of which have been completed or are in the process of being built. The village seeks to create a diverse, affordable, caring community integrating ecologically sound principles and community sufficiency.”

Funding for this project has been provided by the Community Housing Development Fund, a joint effort of Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca, and Cornell University that seeks to ensure permanent affordability in newly constructed or rehabilitated housing units, Warner said.

“Habitat for Humanity of Tompkins and Cortland Counties is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a global, nonprofit housing organization working in nearly 1,400 communities across the United States and in approximately 70 countries worldwide,” she added. “Habitat seeks to build strength, stability, and self-reliance in partnership with people and families in need of a decent and affordable home. Habitat homebuyers invest ‘Equity’ hours by working alongside volunteers to build their own home or the homes of other Habitat families.”

For more information on White Hawk Ecovillage, please visit: www.whitehawkecovillage.org and for more information on TCHFH please visit www.tchabitat.com. Or contact Elizabeth Warner liz@tchabitat.com, 607-844-3529