Just after Christmas the newly built Dryden House welcomed its first occupants. Under the umbrella of the Second Wind Cottages, a Christ-based ministry, Dryden House provides homeless women and their children nicely furnished apartments to call home. Located on Main Street in Dryden, the house boasts four apartments, one for the live-in program manager and three for women and their children. In addition, there is a community room, a welcoming foyer/hallway stocked with games, puzzles, and other items that community members can use. The program manager’s office is also on site.
A lot of thought and work goes into processing applications and determining who is a good fit for Dryden House. Once a resident is determined, volunteers make sure their new home is furnished with all of life’s necessities for the kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, and living room spaces. A special touch is a one-of-a-kind handmade quilt that awaits each woman and child upon their arrival.
BG’s own Amy Bach is the Second Wind Cottages donations coordinator. She manages donation acquisitions and storage, and keeps a running list of these resources. Amy also cleans and sets up apartments to welcome their new residents. It can be a lot of work and she enjoys working alongside volunteers from the Ithaca area and BG communities. Before Christmas, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes from Cornell were super helpful moving large items and furniture.
Because residents can take anything they’ve used with them when they move on, newly vacated spaces need to be furnished all over again. This means that donations are in constant demand.
Are you interested in donating? Ministry leaders know that bed frames, couches, tables, chairs, lamps and shades, cutlery, pans, pots, clocks, radios, bedding, and towels are some of the common items needed. Dryden House also needs volunteers to clean or set up a new home for someone.
Interested in volunteering, learning more about the home? Please visit secondwindcottages.org for more information.