Hi everyone! Before I begin to describe this
incredible organization I have looked into, I'd like to ask you all a question:
When you think of a homeless person, what do you
imagine?
Do you picture a drug addict? An alcoholic? A lazy
bum? Although I'm sure you don't perceive these individuals in such an
unforgiving and unflattering light, unfortunately, these perceptions are
stigmas that many people buy into which hinder them from wanting to offer them help. Yes, of course there are homeless addicts and
alcoholics. However, there exists a great majority of homeless people who just
simply ran into hard times. Nevertheless, are we to deny someone in need our
help and compassion due to an illness they cannot control?
John Tumino, a former chef and registered minister,
noticed how ignored and desolate the homeless population in his local city of
Syracuse, NY truly was. In a leap of faith, he quit his job as chef in a well-known
local restaurant in 2011 and funneled his remaining resources into establishing a non-profit
organization whose mission is “to build relationships with
chronically homeless individuals they identify and meet the unique needs of
homeless people not yet ready to leave the streets and who refuse to stay in
emergency shelters.”
In My Father’s Kitchen (or IMFK for short) is self-proclaimed as "a faith-based organization offering
non-denominational and non-discriminatory assistance to homeless people through
direct street outreach." It tackles its
mission by hand delivering roughly a dozen meals biweekly to those individuals
living on the sides of roads or under bridges in a local area known as Erie
Boulevard. Such meals consist of homemade lasagna, meatballs, and steak
sandwiches—Tumino wants to express through the meals he gives to the homeless
that they have value and are not invisible. Each boxed meal is equipped with the organization's contact information--and the organization is available and on-call to the homeless 24/7. In addition to delivering food,
Tumino invested in a local house where those in need may meet with caseworkers,
get cleaned up, have access to clothes, and/or use the bathroom. Recently
another house has been donated to this organization where Tumino plans to house
women and children affected by domestic abuse.
Something unique and greatly admirable I found about
this organization is how they are in no way pushy or aggressive with their
services. Not all of the individuals they reach out to want their help and they
accept that. On IMFK’s website they explain, “IMFK provides food and basic
necessitates to homeless individuals where they live on the streets, on a
consistent and compassionate basis, until the homeless individual is
comfortable accepting help and working with community agencies to secure
housing.” If and when an individual is willing to accept help that is more than
just a meal, the organization will refer them to other organizations or case
workers who can help them. Furthermore, the organization will follow up to
ensure the homeless who have been housed remain that way. Over the course of
the 6 years they have been functioning, IMFK has helped 70 people get off the
street and achieve long-term shelter.
As far as how resources are allocated, in 2012 (one
year after the organization was established) $25,000 out of the $36,000 donated
to the non-profit was spent on food and outreach. $5,000 was given as a salary
to the sole employee of the organization, and the remaining amount was spent on
paperwork to start up the non-profit. The organization has one employee
(Tumino), one full-time volunteer (his wife), and 60 local part-time
volunteers.
Since each meal is valued at only $13, every donation is
impactful. A donation of $100 would be able to feed 7 people or could greatly
assist in the up keeping of the organization’s 2 houses. If you are so
inclined, you could also buy a jar of sauce, some maple syrup, or coffee beans
from the organization’s website, and all proceeds will go straight to the
organization.
In conclusion, I believe this organization is worth donating to because it restores a certain dignity in a group of people who live under undignified conditions, and brings a visibility to a very ostracized group of people who desperately need not only help, but love and compassion.
In conclusion, I believe this organization is worth donating to because it restores a certain dignity in a group of people who live under undignified conditions, and brings a visibility to a very ostracized group of people who desperately need not only help, but love and compassion.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you all consider
donating to this inspiring organization!
If you’d like to learn more, here is a link to their
website…
and an article about the organization and their impact
on the community:
Hi Allyson,
ReplyDeleteHelping the homeless is obviously a very important aspect in our society and I am happy that we have people who are as socially engaged as the founder of “In my fathers Kitchen”. I also support the concept of expanding their structures from first providing warm meals and then providing clean clothes and hygienic resources.
Yet, I believe that we must address the issue of homelessness differently. In my opinion, we should focus on keeping people off the streets, before they land on them. Issues such as unaffordable housing and unemployment are two major reasons, why people land on the streets. When people are kept off the streets, especially when they are young, they are shielded from street violence and further terrible influences coming from their street surroundings. If we are able to tackle these issues, I believe that we will be successful in keeping people off the streets, meaning that we would be able to focus on other issue areas.
I obviously know that we will never be able to completely eradicate homelessness, but as long as we have it, it is important to help people on the streets, just as it is equally important to keep people off the streets.
“Youth Off the Streets” is a non-profit organization focusing on helping young people turning their life around, before they land on the streets. They want to do this by developing talents and building confidence. This is an organization that makes a large difference, because it is able to provide large opportunities to disadvantaged youths.
Here is their link: https://stvsg.org
Hi Allyson, thank you for making me (and perhaps others) aware of this charity that puts a twist on a common practice (bringing food and/or assistance to the homeless). Although I know this charity has impacted some people’s life, I am concerned with the efficiency of its running overall, and its effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteThe Taste and See page offers people sauce, syrup, and coffee for purchase, with all of the proceeds going to back to IMFK. I would appreciate if they showed at least an estimate of what the cost to make these products is, and how much return they are making. While creating food is a good way to use Tumino’s cooking skills, I am worried that making these items may not be worth it. I would also be interesting in knowing if selling these products fit in the category of primary purpose trading (“selling to further your charity’s aims”), or non-primary purpose trading (“selling to raise funds”) (gov.uk). More information an examples of the two can be found in the link I attached below.
You also mention that IMFK invested in a local house to help the people of the area. I wondered if IMFK was working with other local organizations in its goal to help the homeless, and utilized collective impact. Doing some more research, I found that they indeed partnered with other nonprofits. These however, were isolated events. For example, they partnered with a charity for a Thanksgiving event, another for a “Spring Give Away”. I would like to know if they planned on forming, or already had, any long-term partnerships in the community (besides the one or two houses they invested in).
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/charity-trading-selling-goods-and-services
Hi Allyson
ReplyDeleteIn My Father’s Kitchen seems like a very unique organization that works to help and support the homeless population in Syracuse. I am glad that you brought up the point of homeless people and the stigma around them. Sadly, many people view homeless people in negative ways because it is often assumed that they are addicts, whether it be drugs or alcohol, and lazy. What people don’t realize is that despite whatever reason someone is homeless, they are humans too. In the United States there are an estimated 553,742 people experiencing homelessness. Currently, I am in a social work class in which we discussed the issue of homelessness across American cities. My professor discussed that, unfortunately, about 32 percent of homeless adults have an untreated mental illness. Because homeless people are impoverished, they don't receive adequate health care for these issues and some of their actions lead them to be put out on the streets. As a result, many of them participate in substance abuse to combat these issues, however it makes their situations much worse. Before people buy into the homeless person stigma, it’s important to take notice of all the factors surrounding their situation. It seems like John Tumino, the founder of IMFK cares deeply about the homeless cause. An aspect that I find amazing about this organization is that he cooks delicious gourmet meals valued at $13. While he could use his resources to make something less expensive such as sandwiches, he is trying to show the homeless population that they are worthy of more than that. I know this may seem like a waste of money, but I believe it is a way to also empower these people. I was looking at the IMFK Facebook page and saw that he made meals such as sirloin steak and chicken marsala. John also creates live videos of him actually preparing the meals in which the organizations supporters can see what will be served today. This interaction and transparency shows that he truly is a dedicated and committed leader of IMFK. Finally, what is so important about this organization, in my opinion, is that he works to build a relationship with the homeless people he supports. From my social work class, I’ve learned that is a tactic most social workers use to successfully help their clients. Another tactic, as you mentioned, is not being pushy or aggressive. People have to want to change on their own, and John helps stir this change by providing them with an adequate meal and support system. Many times, homeless people are not always ready to accept help for their own personal reasons. One graphic novel I had to read for my class was The Tale of One Bad Rat. It was about a homeless teen who ran away from home escaping the sexual abuses of her father. While people tried to help her, she often refused, being too scared to trust them. Many homeless people don't feel comfortable trusting people and John is accepting of that in his organization’s mission statement. Thanks for bringing In My Father’s Kitchen to the class discussion. I think its a great organization that John dedicates hard work, notably in providing food, but also in combating the stigma and issue surrounding homelessness. If anyone is interested in reading the graphic novel, here’s the link: https://www.scribd.com/document/274023945/The-Comics-Library-93-The-Tale-of-One-Bad-Rat-1994-pdf
Hi Allyson,
ReplyDeleteThis organization really stands out to me because when I was younger, I used to volunteer with my parents at a place in RIverdale, NY called The Ethical Culture Society. In this building many things went on from science fairs for children, it was rented out regularly to small religious with no building of their own, and occasionally acted as a homeless shelter. I used to volunteer on some nights when homeless people would come to spend the night. We would set up about fifteen air mattresses, set a few tables for their breakfast the following morning and play games with the few people who were not completely exhausted from their days. I know that costs were always kept as minimal as possible so to be able to help as many people as possible over any given period of time.
In talking about keeping costs low, I must admit that the cost of $13 per meal does seem odd to me. Perhaps In My Father's Kitchen really does give large, high quality meals, but I feel that there must be a way to lower that cost. This high cost could be because of the costs of upkeep and delivery, but then my question would become: is this the most efficient way to not only feed homeless people, but to also get them into full time housing?
There is an organization in Los Angeles that sounds a lot like IMFK called Food on Foot. This organization has two main programs: the sunday meals program and the work for food program. The former is a standard meal that goes out to a set number of homeless people and the latter is for getting homeless people off the street permanently through education and teaching life skills. I could not find specific numbers on their website but they claim to have a huge group of volunteers who really make everything happen. I think that this program is great because they provide more than a meal or a house, they provide necessary skills to be able to hold a full time job and to be self sufficient. The website says that 85% of the homeless people whom they have found jobs for still have those jobs and that 81% of the donations they receive go to their programming with 19% going to administration. I think that an organization like this one could be extremely beneficial to the Broome County community, but more information would need to be obtained prior to making such a large donation. Below is the link to the Food on Foot website.
http://www.foodonfoot.org/