ITHACA, N.Y. — One of Tompkins County’s only homes for youth transitioning out of homelessness may close in the coming weeks. In an unexpected reversal, the program’s federal funding will expire at the end of the month, leaving the future uncertain for the remaining youth living in the house — and the dozens of others currently on the waiting list for transitional housing.
Over the past two years, some 15 formerly homeless teens and young adults have found a home in the large white rented house near Ithaca’s downtown. The home, called Village House, is operated by local youth-centered non-profit Village at Ithaca.
It is meant to be a stepping stone for youth aged 14-24 as they transition from homelessness to a more permanent home — whether that’s on their own or in permanent supportive housing. It is one of the only such programs in Tompkins County.
The nonprofit’s director, Meryl Phipps, said the federal grant that supported the program will now expire on Oct. 31 — a year earlier than expected. The future of the home come November is uncertain, with freezing temperatures expected to be just days away.
Last Thursday, the house was quiet and mostly empty in anticipation of the pending funding cliff. Some residents have been able to find permanent housing. Others, including some who had been on the waiting list for the home, are staying with Village at Ithaca staff.
The home has had to put intakes on pause, leading some would-be residents to resort to couch surfing and sleeping in local laundromats and parking garages, Phipps said.
There are at least 150 homeless students enrolled at schools in the Ithaca City School District, according to the district’s bussing data — though studies show homeless youth are a particularly difficult population to accurately quantify, and are often chronically undercounted.
Village at Ithaca was originally awarded $1 million in 2022 to operate the home for a two-year pilot through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The model for the home was conceived in part by young Ithacans who have experienced homelessness and crisis first-hand.
In a letter sent this February, HUD officials told Village at Ithaca staff that funding for the program would be renewed until October 2025. The agency unexpectedly reneged on the renewal offer after a last-minute site visit this summer.
Following the inspection, HUD officials identified nine “areas of non-compliance.”
“[It’s] mainly the same stuff that comes with housing homeless youth,” Phipps said. “Like trash in the driveway, like bringing home stray cats, you know what I mean. We — knock on wood — haven’t had any weapons problems. We haven’t had any hard drug problems.”
Phipps said one issue stemmed from difficulties the Village at Ithaca had in meeting HUD’s record-keeping requirements. Agencies are required to report things like daily head counts, as well as more granular updates on residents, such as intake assessment reports, sexual orientation, medical history and financial information.
Shortly after the visit, Phipps said she sent the agency documentation showing almost all the issues had been addressed. But even as the Oct. 1 deadline loomed, Phipps said she didn’t have a clear answer from HUD headquarters about the future of the home’s funding.
“HUD is working with the local community to ensure that young people served through this project have a safe place to live,” a HUD spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
“There was a lot of numbness, a lot of people being like ‘Okay, so this is just like before. Here we go again.’ They’ve been let down again.”
Phipps said the agency had informed her that it would offer an additional month of funding beyond Oct. 1 if Village at Ithaca agreed to hand off the program to another provider.
Phipps said Village at Ithaca took on the project because other local providers weren’t willing or able to do so themselves. Before Village House, Village at Ithaca had never run any sort of housing program — the non-profit was originally founded to advocate for marginalized youth mainly in educational matters.
“We worked for several years advocating for the community to meet this need in other ways, but no other agency felt equipped to add [transitional housing] to their existing programs,” Phipps said. “And because the HUD funding was a demonstration project specifically designed to prioritize youth voices, which is the core of our mission, we decided to give it a try.”
Lora Tsui, a provider who works with youth in crisis at a different agency, said the project has served as a crucial resource for vulnerable youth.
“Our community will need to put in the hard work together to get those needs met in its absence,” Tsui said. “The housing needs are only increasing.”
Jess Brock, a live-in support worker at Village House, said her job varies day-to-day. It often entails making sure everyone is up in time to get to school or work. Sometimes it’s also helping a 17-year-old apply for Section 8 housing vouchers ahead of his upcoming 18th birthday. Other times, it’s a run to 7-11 to get slushies and snacks if someone’s had a hard day.
“If you’re in crisis, things can look messy, things can look crazy, and you may need a couple of years to reset,” Brock said. “You need a group of people who are going to be around you to support you. You need someone to cook you mac and cheese or someone to play video games with you.”
Brock said she experienced housing insecurity herself after graduating from college. She said one of her biggest discomforts at that time was a lack of agency, which she said now informs her day-to-day work at Village House.
“Everyone who comes to these doors has a choice as to what they want to do,” Brock said. “If they want to go to college, they can do that, and I will help them get to where they want. If they want to have a job, if they want just permanent supportive housing and want to put their mental health first, I will make sure that is a possibility for them.”
In many ways, the emphasis on youth voice and agency is apparent throughout Village House.
The HUD grant — called the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program — offered more flexibility for communities interested in developing solutions to youth homelessness that were more innovative or experimental, local advocates said.
The grant required communities to form “Youth Action Boards” which consist of teens and young adults who have directly experienced homelessness. Members would help shape and advise projects. In Ithaca, Youth Action Board members went a step further and wrote significant portions of the grant application itself.
One resident built garden beds in the strip of dirt between the road and sidewalk. The beds, woven from green branches, are now spilling over with flowers and herbs. That resident has moved onto permanent housing, Brock said. On the porch, she has left behind a tray of houseplant clippings planted in plastic cups.
In decorating their bedroom walls, another resident also ended up painting over parts of the window too, which later became a problem during the HUD site visit.
These days, Brock said, any free time in the day is spent frantically searching for ways to keep the doors open, whether that’s with Village at Ithaca or some other agency. Like the residents, Brock also faces homelessness if the home closes for good.
Essential operational costs for the home total about $20,700 a month, Phipps said. A crowdfunded fundraiser started last month has so far raised $13,388.
Brock said Phipps and other program staff had wanted to resolve the funding issue without burdening residents with the anxiety over the program’s future. But as the deadline loomed, she said, it became impossible to avoid the topic.
“[After we told them the news] a lot of them had this face, like, ‘I’m doing my best to keep it together,’” Brock said. “There was a lot of anxiety in the form of anger and frustration and sadness. There was a lot of numbness, a lot of people being like ‘Okay, so this is just like before. Here we go again.’ They’ve been let down again.”
Phipps said she and many of her staff members are hosting kids in their own homes while the funding for the transitional home sits in limbo.
“We are probably supporting 15 to 20 other kids who are eligible for our program, but I can’t give them rooms, because I don’t know what’s happening and whether we have any funding,” Phipps said. “And [freezing weather] is rapidly hurtling towards us, in which the county is […] apparently going to be housing all of our people, including young people in [a former] KeyBank building.”
In the past few weeks, Village House has slowly emptied out as staff scramble to find housing for the remaining residents. Meanwhile, Phipps said, there are new kids arriving who need transitional housing.
“I got a referral to pick up a young person from the St John’s [homeless shelter] lobby yesterday.” Phipps said. “There’s literally nowhere for her to go. I mean, there are these email chains with like 10 service providers. How do we have so many service providers and no beds?”