Sephora Charles

is a contributor to The NewsHouse.

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Kevin Batsford has made a career helping people living on the streets of Syracuse stabilize their lives. Thirteen years ago, he was one of them.   Batsford spent more than a decade addicted to crack cocaine and alcohol, sleeping under a bridge in Syracuse after cutting ties with his daughters.   “I was one of the guys that you would see on the corners holding a cardboard sign,” Batsford said.   Then he met John and Leigh-Ann Tumino in 2013, the founders of <a href="https://inmyfatherskitchen.org/">In My Father’s Kitchen</a>, a faith-based nonprofit organization that helps people experiencing homelessness find stable housing and additional services. The couple met Batsford through the nonprofit—offering him food, clothes and prayer while he lived on the streets.   Batsford’s life changed later that year when his brother, who also experienced homelessness, died in an abandoned house fire that he started in an attempt to keep warm. Batsford said it was the “kick in the butt” he needed to rebuild his life. He admitted himself into a seven-month treatment program at the Salvation Army in Syracuse. Batsford said John Tumino would visit him and support him throughout his recovery.   Today, Batsford is a supervisor at In My Father’s Kitchen, where he connects panhandlers with paid work opportunities and food.   John Tumino said transformations like Batsford’s drive the organization’s work. For 15 years, John and Leigh-Ann Tumino have helped 480 homeless people get off the streets through In My Father’s Kitchen. As the Syracuse-based nonprofit marks its 15th anniversary, homelessness remains a crisis in Central New York, <a href="https://www.hhccny.org/">where 1,192 people experience homelessness on any given night</a>, according to the Housing and Homeless Coalition of Central New York’s website.   Before In My Father’s Kitchen, the Tuminos owned Asti, an Italian restaurant in Syracuse. John Tumino said that while spending time with God one day in 2009, he felt called to leave the family business and pursue ministry.   “The idea came that Leigh-Ann and I would use food to fill someone's belly and God's presence would come and fill someone's heart,” he said.   When he told his wife, she said the idea felt right.   “[We] didn't know what we were going to do, but we just stepped out in faith,” Leigh-Ann Tumino said.   The couple sought counseling from John Carter, the senior pastor of Abundant Life, where they attend church, before making a definitive decision. They initially believed they would be missionaries in Central America, but a later encounter in John Tumino’s life changed their course.   While driving on Interstate 81 in 2011, John Tumino noticed a man sitting on the off-ramp with a sign, asking for help. He said God put it on his heart to pull over and feed him. The two ended up having a 20-minute conversation on the off-ramp about the man’s life. John Tumino said that encounter solidified his purpose.   “We're supposed to find these individuals and tell them they're not invisible,” he said. “That's how In My Father's Kitchen was born here in Syracuse.”   This leap of faith came with a personal cost.   The Tuminos went from the financial stability of running a restaurant to drastically simplifying their lives. They cut expenses and went from having two cars to one.   They had to explain to their 10-year-old daughter, Abigail, why they couldn’t take her to the movies anymore. They also had to tell her why she could only get a basic Build-A-Bear while the kids they served received personalized stuffed animals, paid for by the nonprofit.   “You don't want to tell your kid you're poor, so navigating that was a challenge,” John Tumino said.   Fifteen years later, the Tuminos’ calling has grown beyond handing out meals.   As the couple worked with people experiencing homelessness, they began to see that helping required addressing more than immediate hunger. Homelessness increased more than <a href="https://www.focussyracuse.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Point-in-Time-Count-Report-2024.pdf">60% from 2019 to 2024</a> because of factors such as rising rental costs, according to data from Central New York’s Housing and Homeless Coalition.   John Tumino leads the organization’s street outreach, building relationships with people who are chronically homeless while providing them with food, clothes, emergency supplies and medical aid from an Upstate Medical physician. The organization also transports people to homeless programs for further assistance.   Leigh-Ann Tumino, who experienced homelessness for a short period in her teens, leads Restore Outreach for Women. The program gives women who have experienced traumas from homelessness, domestic violence or human trafficking a safe space to relax through art, music and Scripture.   “As a person of faith, God sometimes allows Leigh-Ann and I to be a voice for the voiceless and to show the good, the bad and the ugly,” John Tumino said.   Batsford, who’s been sober for nearly 13 years, oversees Hire Ground, an initiative that provides people experiencing homelessness $50 work stipends and food. Hire Ground has helped more than 450 panhandlers since its launch in 2018, according to the <a href="https://inmyfatherskitchen.org/hire-ground/">In My Father’s Kitchen</a> website.   “It's something I never saw coming, and that's why I say I feel like God had a plan for me,” Batsford said.

Off Campus

by Sephora Charles

Published On: August 31, 2026