John Tumino

Providing adequate and compassionate care for our homeless friends with mental health issues who reside in outdoor settings is a complex and multifaceted task. Our friends with mental health issues face many barriers to accessing appropriate services, such as stigma, discrimination, lack of trust, lack of identification, and lack of transportation. Moreover, living outdoors exposes them to harsh weather conditions, violence, infections, and substance abuse. These factors can exacerbate their mental health conditions and make them more vulnerable to physical and psychological distress. Therefore, it is essential to adopt a holistic and person-centered approach that addresses their needs and preferences in a respectful and dignified manner. Some of the strategies that can help in serving this population include:

– Building relationships and trust with the individuals through frequent and consistent outreach visits, listening to their stories, and respecting their autonomy and choices.
– Assessing their mental health status and needs using culturally sensitive and trauma-informed tools, and referring them to appropriate services as needed.
– Providing them with basic necessities such as food, water, clothing, hygiene items, and blankets, as well as harm reduction supplies such as needles, and naloxone kits.
– Educating them about their rights, entitlements, and available resources in the community, and assisting them with obtaining identification documents, benefits, housing applications, and legal aid.
– Collaborating with other service providers such as shelters, health clinics, mental health agencies, substance abuse programs, and police to coordinate care and ensure continuity of services.
– Advocating for systemic changes that address the root causes of homelessness and mental health issues, such as poverty, social exclusion, lack of affordable housing, and inadequate mental health care.

We know that serving our friends with mental health issues living outdoors is not a simple task. It requires patience, perseverance, and empathy. But we also know that it is rewarding and meaningful work. We see the positive impact we make on their lives every day. We see them smile, laugh, and express gratitude. We see them take steps towards recovery and stability. We see them as human beings, not as problems. Serving our friends with mental health issues while living outdoors can be a challenge. But it is also a privilege and an opportunity to make a difference in the world.

Since November 2022, when we launched Life House and welcomed our first resident, we have been witnessing our vision become a reality. It was a remarkable experience to see the impact of our work.

Life House provides four stages of healing and growth, Reset, Restore, Rebuild, and Relaunch, for each resident to progress at their own speed. The journey to health and wholeness is not immediate, but rather a personal journey, requiring a safe place to process and time to self-reflect.

We are proud of our current resident who has been working to adapt and reset her life. Our excellent Advocacy Team has been working to assist her in each new challenge and celebrate with her every personal achievement. Our staff is helping her right now with getting medically stable as well as working with her and a dentist to get her teeth fixed. She is learning how to communicate and live in a family environment.

Our resident is facing a challenging journey of healing and growth in the coming months. She will have to confront her past, examine her beliefs, and reconnect with her feelings. We are proud of her courage and determination to transform her life. She is willing to do the hard work that is required for change.

We are grateful to our Sous Chefs for their generous donations that enable us to offer safety, peace, and support to our residents. You are the ones who make this amazing work possible with your ongoing contributions.

We escaped like a bird from the hunter’s trap, the trap is broken, and we are free.

(Psalm 124:7)

Life House is a branch of the non-profit, In My Father’s Kitchen. We work with courts and law enforcement to provide a residential program for women 21 and older who have experienced the trauma of human trafficking. Our program helps them heal from their trauma and rebuild their lives with dignity and hope. We depend on the generosity of people like you to sustain our vital work and provide quality care to our residents. By becoming a monthly supporter, you can help us make a lasting difference in the lives of victims of human trafficking.

Please click the link below to join our community of compassionate donors and see the impact of your gift. Thank you for your kindness and support.

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At Imfk, we are passionate about serving our friends experiencing homelessness. Here is a photo of Alida, our IMFK Care-Manager, who was helping a Hire Ground crew participant with his foot problems. Alida washed his feet and helped him get in touch with Doctor Lehmann from Housecalls to the Homeless (H4H). Meanwhile, our outreach team was exploring a new campsite in the woods. It was an amazing sight, but also a sad reminder that no one should have to live like this. They deserve to be safe and warm and use their creativity for other purposes. IMFK is always thinking outside the box, so we can’t wait to meet our new friend and assist him into safe housing. Whether it’s supporting friends on a work van or finding new friends outdoors, IMFK will always be there for those who feel invisible, thanks to your support.

We are thrilled to share some amazing news with you as we enter the New Year of 2024. Six of our friends who are experiencing homelessness have been matched to Permanent Supportive Housing! JD and Eliesha (IMFK care managers) have been working hard to help our friends get to their appointments. Street Outreach is more than providing food and supplies to our friends, it’s about connecting them with service providers that can help them achieve a brighter future! The food and supplies are essential tools that enable us to build deep relationships with our friends outdoors. Just like you, our Sous Chefs, your partnership is a powerful tool that allows this mission to continue in our community! Once our friends move from the streets to housing, our care manager teams increase their efforts to coach our friends on how to live safely and comfortably in their own HOME. We provide them with groceries from our wonderful partners at Abundant Life Church, as well as microwaves, coffee makers, dishes, cups, shower rods, and curtains. These are some items that many of us may not appreciate enough, but to our friends, they are priceless gifts. Thank you for your incredible support in 2023 and we look forward to your continued generosity in 2024!

Together we are Building Hope and Changing Lives, We are YOUR Hands extended to those who Feel INVISIBLE!

It’s not unusual to see scruffy-looking people holding cardboard signs asking for help when driving around Syracuse. And few people take the time to hear the stories behind those cardboard messages. One person who does is John Tumino, 51, a chef and founder of In My Father’s Kitchen (IMFK), a nonprofit outreach program that helps homeless people in Syracuse.

“Food brings people to the table,” says Tumino. “No matter what culture you’re from or what country you’re from, everyone eats food. Food lets you communicate with your family and your friends. Food is a barrier breaker.”

Tumino uses food to break the barriers and help them restart their lives. Since 2011, he has helped 53 homeless people off the streets permanently, and today, he’s still helping through IMFK with growing numbers of supporters.

Tumino is the first generation of his family in the United States. His father moved from Italy to Argentina after World War II where he met his mother. The couple decided to emigrate in 1963 in hopes of better lives. Not knowing English or American culture did not stop them from working hard and took them to where they are now – the proud owners of Asti Caffe on North Salina Street. When Tumino was younger, he was often teased about the way his parents spoke. He grew up in a house where different languages flew around and different food was cooked and eaten. His friends would often come to try the unfamiliar meals.

After finishing his education at Fowler High School, Tumino took a job in the kitchen of a McDonald’s for a couple of years before moving on to work at a Chrysler factory. In 1987, his family opened Tumino’s Pizzeria, but by 1995 the family had sold the business and Tumino worked as a legal courier for five years. In 2002, his family started another Italian restaurant, Asti Caffe, where he worked as a chef. It was in that kitchen where it all began.

“In summer 2009, I was at the restaurant getting ready for the morning, during my prayer time, and I heard the words come into my heart ‘In my father’s kitchen,’” Tumino says. “It just felt in my heart that we would fill the belly of a man by serving food and clothing for people. I felt it was time to leave the restaurant. That was 18 months from hearing that calling until I stepped out of the family’s business.”

This was not the first time Tumino says he heard from Jesus. In his younger years, he says, he was a gambling and sex addict. It was when he was 28 years old that he had his first encounter with Jesus. He started his journey as a Christian and his faith in God delivered him from his past. One brother was a heroin addict; another brother sold drugs and went to prison. Both of their lives have since turned around due to their faith in God. From these experiences, Tumino learned that everyone has a story; everyone struggles. But there is also hope. “There’s always an opportunity to change,” Tumino says. “Will you take the opportunity, go where you’ve never gone, do what you’ve never done?”

He and his wife, Leigh Ann, are ordained ministers and once thought of becoming missionaries in Costa Rica. They each went to Costa Rica, on different trips, and a third time as a family, taking their daughter with them. They didn’t feel the click. When they got back to Syracuse they wondered what their next step would be. It was then, as they drove out of the Destiny USA mall on Bear Street, a homeless man holding a cardboard sign got Tumino’s attention. Tumino realized the car in front of them wasn’t paying attention; he looked at the car behind and they weren’t looking either. “I heard these words coming, ‘This guy feels he’s invisible and I want you to go and feed him,’ so I was like, wow,” Tumino says about how Jesus gave him a sign. He went to Wegman’s and bought a sandwich, a bag of chips, and something sweet to drink. He drove back to the homeless man.

“Hey man, my name is John, I have lunch here if you’d like it,” Tumino said, using food to break down the wall of invisibility. The man, known as Tim P., said, “Sure.” Tumino then said, “I want you to know that you’re not invisible, I see you standing there.” Tim froze and took a deep breath. He never expected that. Tim was the first person Tumino helped, five years ago. Since then he’s helped 2 more homeless people. IMFK’s office at 501 Hawley Street is not just the office for the organization, but also a place for the homeless people Tumino helps to clean up and get fresh clothes.

Leigh Ann volunteers with her husband. She says Tumino is the one who comes up with ideas. “He’s a visionary, I create it and put it together,” she says.

She was previously the children’s director at Abundant Life Christian Center for 15 years, writing curriculum, creating programs, training, and doing anything else that needed to be done. When Asti Caffe opened, Leigh Ann left her director position to help at the restaurant, with bookkeeping and office duties. Now she is Tumino’s right hand.

Today, as a full-time volunteer at IMFK, her life has been busier than ever – paperwork, creating newsletters, and such – while her husband recruits organizations to help homeless people. “I’m very proud of him and very proud to say that I’m his wife,” Leigh Ann says. “John never meets an enemy. Everyone’s his friend. I think I’m an introvert, he’s an extrovert. It wows me that he’s somebody who can make friends with everybody.”

It’s been over 15 months since Steven Clemens, 56, got sober, and it all started with a lunch. Clemens was one of the many homeless people to whom Tumino regularly brought food and clothes. But on one particular day Clemens had given up on life. Lying in his own feces, flies buzzing around him, he said to God, “This is it. Just take me or don’t. I’m done.” Minutes later, Tumino showed up and called the ambulance to rescue him. Clemens now regularly assists Tumino in his work.

Tumino never feels disgust or repulsion for the homeless people he encounters. The day Clemens was rescued, for instance, Tumino stood by him despite the strong odor that made even a male nurse almost throw up. Tumino listens to their stories, trying to connect them with people or organizations that can help. His family and the people he works with say he has always been a kind-hearted man, the one who understands, and the one who never judges.

In addition, Tumino has another close friend who went with him on his first outreach to the homeless in the streets of Syracuse. Duane Main, 54, an accountant manager at ABF Transportation, first met Tumino at a church. Nowadays, he considers Tumino a friend. “He’s an accountability partner of mine,” Main says. “He’s a gentleman I can trust, who I can go with to everyday situations or life situations. He’s got good godly wisdom.”

Today, IMFK sells pasta sauce, New Horizons coffee, and maple syrup to create awareness and finance the organization as it continues its mission. Tumino sees this as a marketplace where he physically can’t go. These products make their way to people’s kitchens, gifts for someone who could end up in another person’s cabinet. This is how IMFK spreads its word and reaches new supporters. From making and selling food, and offering a meal to cut through the invisibility, “we’re building hope and changing lives,” Tumino says.