As young children run through the doors of Tompkins Community Action (TCAction), they’re greeted by the familiar faces of staff members. The children drop their backpacks and rush to take a seat at a perfectly-sized wooden table complete with a basket of colorful toys. This lobby sits on the bottom floor of the Amici House, a housing facility founded by TCAction to assist the homeless youth of Ithaca.
The Amici House, which opened two weeks ago, stands five stories tall and has apartments that can accommodate up to 50 people. Located at 701 Spencer Road, The Amici House provides affordable housing services and childcare for homeless between the ages of 18 and 25.
The apartments, each with a private bathroom, are furnished and come with supplies such as towels, linens, and kitchen utensils.
Tompkins Community Action’s offices sit on the first floor of the building. This project is just one of four housing facilities owned by TCAction in the Ithaca area that provide services for specific homeless populations in order for residents to live comfortably.
Lee Dillon, executive director at TCAction, said that the establishment of a youth housing facility in this area was long overdue.
“This came out of a community need. We knew that there were lots of young people that didn’t have housing,” said Dillon.
The $8.5 million project was built in just a year’s time. The exact number of young people experiencing homelessness in the area is unknown, but since opening its doors, The Amici House is housing over 30 residents.
TCAction partnered with Head Start, an organization that will be funding the childcare services that will take place directly next door, in the Harriet Giannelis Child Care Center.
Head Start works to make sure children from low-income families are prepared to attend school. Head Start programs support the development of children from birth to age five, in centers and in their own homes.
Head Start is also planning to offer parent-child cooking classes and community dinners in the new training kitchen, located on the first floor of the Amici House.
Additionally, TCAction uses the Weatherization Assistance Program and its partnership with the New York Energy Star program to allow these families to save money on heating insulation, air conditioning, and general household services. Although the families still pay for their rent and utilities, the goal is to significantly decrease the amount of money they pay.
Danielle Harrington, TCAction’s Housing and Energy Services director, noted that the application process to live in the Amici House gives priority to those who are most in need.
Harrington personally meets with applicants who then get placed on a waitlist for a number of different opportunities they could be eligible for, including residency at The Amici House.
“You apply once. When we have an opening, we reach out to that list and say ‘Oh, this person’s next’ so we’ll call you and say ‘Would you like to live at Amici House? It’s a program with a lease.’ We figure out what [their] family composition is and move forward that way,” said Harrington.
“We want to help people stay sober, get a job, go to school – just get on with their life,” added Dillon. “And have a place to live that’s nice.”
