Second Wind prepares for spring with Clean Up Day

On Saturday, it didn’t feel like spring atop the hill where Second Wind Cottages sit, but residents and volunteers gathered in a misty rain with temperatures in the high 40s to welcome the new season.

Second Wind hosted a Spring Clean Up Day that lasted from the morning to afternoon, where residents and 20-25 volunteers helped with landscape management, the building of a wood shed and cleaning and slipping a vacant cottage that Second Wind hopes to fill soon.

Volunteers came from Ithaca College Habitat For Humanity, Community Faith Partners, three families interested in helping and people involved with a ministry organization at Cornell University called CRU.

Second Wind, located off state Route 13 in Newfield, is a community of 18 stand-alone cottages that house formerly homeless men from Tompkins County. Housing is being built in Dryden to house formerly homeless women, as well.

Although it might not have felt like spring, Second Wind Volunteer and Community Outreach Coordinator Jill Greene said it was time to get the campus ready to be enjoyed as the days get longer and temperatures climb.

“I think it provides a space of peacefulness and calm,” Greene said. “You have the beauty of your surroundings. You also have an area that you want to hang out with and be social in, if those are things that are of interest to you, and not feel like you’re having a picnic next to a pile of garbage.”

On the landscape beautification agenda was taking care of weeds, smoothing out the stone gravel roads on the property, regrowing grass that was lost in the winter and general litter clean-up.

“Everyone who lives here, everyone who works here, people who volunteer here – there’s a pride in keeping it beautiful,” Greene said. “The natural beauty is so beautiful, why would we want to have it take away from the nature that’s here? We want to help enhance it.”

Second Wind Community Manager Mike Foster said these Spring Clean Up Days have been happening since 2014, and keeping the community clean is part of the education program that the cottages offer to formerly homeless men.

Fostersaid if residents can feel a sense of community and an investment in keeping the place clean, they can become more well-rounded members of society.

“We want our residents to look into the larger beauty. There’s so many stereotypes around any kind of homeless services. You don’t want an eyesore, and there’s challenges to keeping things looking like that,” he said. “You’re dealing with people who might not have had their own place for 20, 30, 40 years or mental health issues that lead to hoarding. It’s a constant job on our end to address it, coach people through it, and teach people about the larger impact on the community. It’s not just about you.”

Greene agreed, saying that Second Wind wants to show the residents the benefit of taking individual and community responsibility.

“There’s your personal responsibility and a larger community,” she said. “It also helps that it’s a skill set to learn for anybody, if and when they decide to leave here, that they will also probably be living in a community that requires that. It’s nice to know how to have that skill set.”

Building new skill sets also applies to the building of the woodshop, according to Greene. Volunteers from Ithaca College Habitat For Humanity placed siding on the woodshop throughout the morning.

Greene said that there are many benefits to having the woodshop on site. A significant benefit is residents being able to teach their woodworking skills to other residents, and for those other residents to learn a skill that could turn into a hobby or long-term employment.

“We do have people who have woodshop experience and could teach the other guys skills to help with a future job that hires those skills,” she said. “Part of my position here is bringing in teaching opportunities or finding out about teaching opportunities in the community, so being able to have a space here where we can bring an educator, a woodworker, a wood-turner, anything in to teach the guys. They get hands-on training, which can progress to on-the-job training, helping them build their resume and skill set.”

Greene also said that while building a community at Second Wind is important, having a working woodshed can be a benefit to the Newfield community as well.

“Our residents will be able to work on their own personal projects and work on any projects that would help and benefit the community as a whole. I know one of the things on my list is to have a fruit stand or a veggie stand up there [on Route 13],” she said. “We want our residents to have the tools and resources to be able to build things that help them personally and help the community.”

Greene and Foster said the day was an overall success. Greene also pointed out that beautification of the grounds doesn’t happen only on Spring Clean Up Day. 

While she said Second Wind is appreciative of the volunteers who helped in the rain and cold, throughout the year a lot of the responsibility to keep the place clean has been picked up by the residents.

“When you walk around, there’s a couple of residents who take a lot of pride and enjoyment in gardening,” she said. “They have taken it upon themselves to do some beautiful beds, maintain the trees, mulch, all of it.”

Newfield Notes appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or geoffpreston8@gmail.com.

In Brief:

Newfield Library to host two events Friday night

Friday, May 5 will be a busy night at Newfield Public Library. 

Starting at 5 p.m., there will be an Origami Night, where all experience levels and ages are welcome. All materials, instruction and snacks will be provided.

Following Origami Night, at 7 p.m. a family movie night, showing “The Bad Guys,” will begin. The movie is based on the children’s book series of the same title by Aaron Blabey.

The movie is rated PG, and popcorn will be provided.