Second Wind raising funds for upcoming Dryden house

On Dec. 8, Carmen Guidi and others stood at 35 W. Main St. in the village of Dryden, an area where a Second Wind house will be built.

“It’s very exciting for us,” said Guidi, who is the founder and acting director of Second Wind. The nonprofit organization currently has 18 cottages for men situated on seven acres of land in Newfield.

The house in Dryden will be built as four units. It aims to bring in women who are experiencing homelessness and with incomes lower than 80% of area median income. It also gives women a chance to be with their children once again — ones who lost their children due to being homeless.

The property was donated to Second Wind by the owners of Sumo Japanese Restaurant in Ithaca. Although there was originally a house on the property, it had extensive fire damage. Due to being a “total loss,” Guidi said, it was demolished.

Now, Second Wind is in place to build a house on the property, which could begin construction as early as spring of next year.

“It’s called Second Wind for a reason,” said Chuck Tompkins, a pastor in the Ithaca area and a Second Wind adviser. “People receive their second wind in life. It’s a place of healing, restoration, relationships and new beginnings.”

Second Wind has received a couple of funding outlets for the construction of the house in Dryden. They were recently awarded $120,000 through Tompkins County’s Community Housing Development Fund, which includes $50,000 from town of Dryden officials.

“This project is needed,” Dryden Town Supervisor Jason Leifer said. Leifer, also an attorney, represents those who receive help from Second Wind. “I’m thrilled to have this house come to Dryden. Clients of mine can see their kids again and get back on their feet.”

Another funding outlet includes $60,000 through an anonymous donor. The donation, however, has a catch.

“It’s a matching gift,” Guidi said.

This means Second Wind has until the end of the year to match the donation. As of Dec. 8, Second Wind had $5,000 raised for the project, Guidi said.

This led to New Vine Records in the village of Freeville, and its Executive Producer John Carter, to step up and help out in a big way.

Carter and New Vine Records are throwing a New Year’s Eve Gala at the Community School of Music and Arts building, 330 E. State St., in Ithaca from 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31 to 1:30 a.m. Jan. 1. Not only will the large get-together be celebrating the end of 2021, but it will also serve as an opportunity to raise funds for Second Wind and its efforts for the housing project in Dryden.

“It’s going to be the culmination of this challenge,” Guidi said. “We cannot do this alone. We need the community’s help.”

Carter, who started New Vine Records about a decade ago, noted it’s been his goal “and desire as a musician in town to connect the arts in this community and to also bring in a sense of compassion within the arts community.”

“We’re going to have a party, but we’re also going to raise support and hopefully find some more money for this matching gift,” Carter said. “We’re honored to do this for Carmen and Second Wind.”

When Second Wind was founded in 2012, Guidi said it had been the organization’s mission to “house and walk with people to restore their lives.”

Although the cottages in Newfield are only for men, Guidi harped that Second Wind chose people first, adding that the organization “knew right from the beginning we wanted to help women too.”

“Second Wind is about the people and the relationships,” Guidi added.

Deb Wilke, homeless crisis alleviation coordinator at Second Wind who helps people get access to a plethora of needs in the community, is looking forward to having a house where “women can be with other women and their children.”

“We’ve had a place to take men, to transform their lives, to make that change, to move inside and to let people help them,” Wilke said. “I’m excited to have a place for women to go to as well in the spirit of Second Wind.”

Second Wind has helped people like Dino Tsipourogiou, who is currently a resident of Second Wind Cottages in Newfield.

“Second Wind saved my life,” he said. “I was on the way to being homeless, and they stepped in.”

Tsipourogiou, an original founder and board member of Second Wind, lost his wife to cancer a few years ago.

“When that happened, I dealt with grief in a way I didn’t think I could,” he said. “I didn’t care about life. It didn’t have that same spark it used to have.”

At first, Tsipourogiou was reluctant to seek help from Second Wind, but he eventually went through with it. He added, “We all need help. I’m thankful for the help I encountered at Second Wind.”

“A huge percentage of men or women who become homeless is not because they want to be or they’re lazy,” Tsipourogiou said. “It’s because something catastrophic happened in their lives that caused them to lose hope.”

Guidi called on the community to support Second Wind’s effort, adding, “We’re here together because we need you.”

“Warehousing people doesn’t work,” he said. “They need support; they need help. I don’t know about you all, but I need help. I need people in my life. I need relationships. Otherwise, I’m not going to make it. That may not sound like a strong man up here, but that’s OK; I don’t need to. I need people. Everyone needs people. That’s what Second Wind is really about.”

Learn more about Second Wind at secondwindcottages.org.

Dryden Dispatch appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.