John Tumino

IMFK’s Day Labor Program Hire Ground in partnership with Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse is all about Giving folks experiencing homelessness a Hand Up not a Hand Out. Its all about Dignity through work and learning more about the story behind the cardboard sign. Last week we were able to connect with the landbank and assist in a clean out of an abandoned house (zombie house). Many times our homeless friends find places like this to sleep in at night but on this day they were all part of an effort to turn this property around so that they can be rehabilitated back to the tax roles. We see the parallel as our crews clean these places that are not meant for human habitation up so that they may be restored, just as we assist are friends who are broken, addicted and suffering from mental health to a place of restoration. While seeing our crew work together to clean out his house I was reminded of the Quote from the movie Collateral Beauty “Just make sure you notice the collateral beauty”. We see it often that beauty can rise form the ashes and as Paulette (care-manager) and Kevin (operations coordinator) work along side our crew members great conversations take place that we believe will lead to true transformation. Our crews will continue to beautify our great community and we are believing that they are sowing seeds of change into their own lives. Thank you for all your support, on behalf of all those who Feel Invisible we say thank you.

John and Leigh Ann

Collaboration is always a huge Key for IMFK. We were able to present Armoured One with the Homeless Hero Award, this Award is presented to individuals or companies who go above and beyond the call of duty by bringing Value and Dignity to those who feel Invisible.

Armoured One has been a committed financial partner to us and because of their support we are able to do great out of the box things for our friends experiencing homelessness.

Tom Czyz, a now retired Homicide Detective and SWAT team operator, and his business partner, Tino Amodei, founded Armoured One in response to the Sandy Hook massacre. They brought together a team of experts in active shooter attacks from SWAT Team operators, elite military personnel, federal agents, and educators with the intention of protecting schools and preventing the loss of lives during mass shooting attacks.  Armoured One then collaborated with teachers and school administrators to create a real solution for school attacks.

Since 2019 we are excited to say that Armoured One has been and Faithful and Committed Partner in serving the Homeless of CNY. Thank you Armoured One for Being a Homeless Hero.

John and Leigh Ann

What a Great way to start off 2021 by receiving a $1000 grant from the The Gifford Foundation  to support our Mission in serving those who Feel Invisible in CNY. Thank you for your support, collaboration is a key to success in serving the chronicly homeless of our community

John and Leigh Ann

We met our friend Steve in June of 2017 we call it first contact. From there the journey of building a relationship starts were we Hope that Trust can be established. Over the last 30 month we experience ups and downs like any relationship that is starting to be established. We visited Steve under bridges in tents that were in the woods, we even connected him to Dr, Lehmann who does house calls for the homeless to take care of some health concerns. Steve was able to work on our Hire Ground work crew were he was shown dignity for the day while working instead of Holding a Cardboard sign. During this time we were able to do all housing paper work and refered him to a housing list were he was matched with a provider that could house him. Well we are excited to say that Steve was housed in early December, we were able to suppliment some items for his apartment like this flat screen TV that was donated by a wonderful Sous Chef (supporter) of IMFK. We were able to provide him a weeks worth of groceries that were donated by Abundant Life Christian Centers Food Pantry. The awesomeness of not just getting Steve indoors but seeing everyone step up to support our Mission goes beyond words. Through the process we were able to meet Steves Dad when he first got in and his Mom (pictured here) when we dropped of the TV. Over 200 friends indoors since 2011 and it could not happen with out your support and all the collaboration that is done through our Homeless Coalition, thank you

John and Leigh Ann

Wow what a year end surprise for us at IMFK. Community Partnership is a big key to the success we have at IMFK. We love it when the private sector steps up to assist us in serving the homeless of CNY. 75% of our funding source comes via private donation, whether its a community resident or a Company Like Coca-Cola. These partnerships allow us to continue to do the out of the box approaches that we use to assist our friends outdoors. This generous year end Donation from Coca-Cola will go a long way for us in purchasing the items we need to continue our work in serving those who feel Invisible on the streets of our community. Thank you Coca-Cola and team for this blessing by seeing us and our work you are saying you see our homeless friends outdoors. On behalf of the Homeless we say Bravo.

John and Leighh Ann