John Tumino

As we are approaching the winter we are strongly encouraging our friends living outdoors to make some serious choices about coming indoors. Pictured here is the inside of a dwelling place of two of our friends. Homelessness for these two friends was caused by a serious drug addiction which escalated into a breakdown in the family system that caused them to lose their housing. During the summer months they call it camping out but on a cold autumn night, moving towards fridged winter temperatures it’s called survival. Believe with us that our two friends make the positive choice of doing the things needed to start the housing process. All we can do is keep showing up with no judgment and loving our friends in the middle of their brokenness. We believe because of this approach our friends will turn to us when their surrender moment happens. It’s heartbreaking to see and to hear the excuses for not changing but we use love as the tool that can break down every obstacle. Thank you for your support 

Moving Towards Winter

Today’s Menu Grilled Chicken Sandwich smothered in Love. A sandwich like this can do wonders!

 We were doing outreach and heard a truck pull alongside and beep its horn. We look over and it’s Mickey working driving a tow truck working at a garage now. Mickey was homeless and we were able to get him housed, and the rest is history!

It all starts with a Lunch, Taste, and See!

Check out full story in Vlog

Welcome Home

In May of 1995 Leigh-Ann and I were newly married and moved into our home on the North Side of Syracuse. The experience of being new homeowners in the inner city of Syracuse brought a surprising realization that we were living in an area where human trafficking was occurring.

Over the last 27 years of living in a tough part of town, we knew that we had been planted here to see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears the suffering of the woman in our neighborhood.

Leigh-Ann and I have always had a heart for the women we saw on the street and wanted to serve them but never knew how or if we could. Little did we know, God had a plan that birthed In My Father’s Kitchen in 2011 serving the homeless of CNY.

We then expanded our programming in 2019 to assist panhandlers with our day labor program Hire Ground. Now in 2022, we are preparing to launch, Life House. Life House is a residential home for women who are escaping a life of human trafficking that has entangled them.

When we began serving those experiencing homelessness in 2011, we started seeing that many of the women had fallen into sex trafficking to survive the environment on the streets. We would see some of the women in our own neighborhood walking up and down the streets soliciting drivers or waiting for a pick-up. It was heartbreaking.

There were occasions Leigh-Ann would be waiting for me to pick her up for an appointment and while standing at the end of our own driveway cars would slow down thinking she was prostituting herself. In our neighborhood, watching the women solicit drivers is where the passion, vision, and dream began.

In 2016, God provided the first foundational piece to making this dream a reality. A house was gifted to IMFK and as soon as the house landed in our hands Leigh-Ann immediately knew we needed to create a home for women choosing to escape human trafficking.

Over the past 6 years, we have invested over $65,000 to renovate the house and make it a safe and welcoming home. We are excited to announce we will soon be opening our faith-based residential home, Life House.

This transforming program is for women who choose to escape human trafficking and the trauma that has entangled their lives. Life House offers 2 women a rent-free home to reside in with 24/7 staff to assist them as they reset, restore, rebuild, and relaunch into the community–experiencing the power, love, and freedom that can be found through Faith in God. The Life House staff will work toward helping these women learn to live and dream again.

We have had many of you ask, “How can we help?” We have 3 ways you can assist us in getting our program up and running:

· If you are a Person of Faith, Pray

a. We are currently in the interviewing process to hire our Resident Advocacy Team.

b. Life House requires people to pray for us and our residents daily. Pray for their breakthroughs and for the staff to have the clarity to help them in their journey to a new life.

· Become a Sponsor

a. All the pieces of this amazing program and the staff to support it

will be a large financial commitment for In My Father’s Kitchen. Please consider becoming a sponsor willing to invest in the lives of our residents.

· Sponsor a resident for 1 day: $90

· Sponsor a resident for 1 week: $630

· Sponsor a resident for one month: $2,700

· Sponsor a resident for one year: $33,000

· Purchase Items and Donate

a. In My Father’s Kitchen has created a Life House Wish List on amazon.com with items needed for our residents. All items purchased will be sent directly to In My Father’s Kitchen.

Please consider partnering with us online at www.inmyfatherskitchen.org or

Donate by mail, send your check or money order to PO Box 11328 Syracuse, NY 13218

Donations are tax-deductible – EIN# 45-2777205

Thank you in advance for your continued support of IMFK and its’ mission!

John and Leigh An Tumin0

Co-Founders

In this Video JD IMFK Care Manager is loving on one of our friends who is waiting to be matched with a housing provider! 

Love never fails and we will always keep coming toward our friends who are experiencing trauma and homelessness.  Check out the video and thank you for your support! Together we are Building Hope and Changing Lives 

John and Leigh Ann 

What is the Homeless Hero Award?

This award is presented to individuals or companies that go above and beyond the call of duty in extending a hand into our community. Who is our community, all those who feel Invisible on the streets of Central New York, those who are experiencing homelessness! Jimmer Owner of two local Chick-Fil-A in Syracuse is just that Hero. Check out the video to hear who Jimmer is.

Thank you so much Jimmer, together we are building hope and changing lives

John and Leigh Ann