PODCASTS

Tag: #homelessness

Hometown Heroes – In My Father’s Kitchen – 9/17/24

Hometown Heroes – In My Father’s Kitchen – 9/17/24

In My Father’s Kitchen

“Hometown Heroes” on Family Life

You have been at an intersection, where a homeless person is standing at that street corner, holding a cardboard sign asking for help. Many people drive by, which makes sense, because a cash handout might be diverted toward furthering an addiction.

Yet, one of those episodes became the spiritual calling for someone who knows a thing or two about feeding people. He bought a lunch, circled back, offered it to the man, and had a life-changing conversation.  For both men.

John and Leigh-Ann Tumino launched In My Father’s Kitchen in 2011 to address the physical and spiritual hungers which were widespread in parts of Syracuse.

Chef John Tumino tells our Mark Webster about this ministry, the people it serves, and how the people who carry out this kind of loving work are transformed too.

 

You can find more about In My Father’s Kitchen from their website, online video and history.

IMFK also sponsors a program to help panhandlers and homeless individuals to build up work experience and skills. It is cleverly named “Hire Ground“.

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Hometown Heroes is a Tuesday feature from Family Life News. Find these inspiring stories during the Noon Report, 5 O’Clock Report, and our podcast feed. These are available from the website, our livestream, the Family Life Now app, and many podcast players. Listen, subscribe or download them by searching for “Family Life News”.

 

Hometown Heroes – House of Hope – Pastor Angelique – 2/13/24

Hometown Heroes – House of Hope – Pastor Angelique – 2/13/24

“We want them to know from the second they walk in that this is a place where they will receive healing and acceptance and value.”

It’s “Hometown Heroes” on Family Life

The House of Hope in Williamsport PA exists to help women overcome dependency, barriers, and challenges — so they will move from a state of homelessness to thriving in the community through the transforming power of Jesus Christ. The six-month residential program is an outreach of the Sojourner Truth Ministries there.

Pastor Angelique Labadie-Cihanowyz is the executive director, and she tells us about some of the paths which led these women to desperate or challenging life circumstances, and how the love of Jesus Christ is demonstrated to those who find shelter and solace at the House of Hope.

 

Sojourner Truth Ministries is named for the former slave who became an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, temperance and abolition of slavery. STM in Williamsport operates the House of Hope, prepares hot lunches six days a week, and have provided an after-school program for children. Find out more from their website, where you can watch their “House Tour” and “Cardboard Stories” videos.

A Family Life Special – Previewing this holiday season – 11/24/23

A Family Life Special – Previewing this holiday season – 11/24/23

Various angles today, about how the “holiday season” affects various people.

It’s an insightful half-hour with four special guests:

  • Financial expert Rachel Cruze offers her personal stories and professional recommendations on shopping and budgeting between now and Christmas. It’s OK — it’s even good — to be generous at this time of year. She cautions, though, that overspending and reliance on “stuff” to bring joy is misguided and harmful.
  • New York Pastor Dave Bretch offers those of us in America a perspective of what Christmas will be like in the Holy Land. He has led tours of the region where Jesus was born, as well as offering glimpses of U.S. and world history of Christmastime during wartime. For 2023, because of the war and terrorism in the region, the town of Bethlehem has already announced that all Christmas celebrations and events there for 2023 have been called off, to keep locals and visitors safe.
  • Another pastor in the Family Life listening area, Eric Johns, has first-hand insights of living on the streets as wintry weather begins to set in. He wraps up a 25-year string of spending Thanksgiving Week abiding with neighbors who are homeless for the holidays. Johns is involved with a congregation which has a heart for reaching out to those without a family, without a home, and (sometimes) without hope. Like many other churches, this congregation emphasizes how to share food, clothing and other items with people in need around them.
  • Jessica Meade, a Christian counselor in Pennsylvania, talks about personal and family expectations of what we think December and Christmas “should” be like. When it has been a hard year, or the circumstances of a family changes, people can drag themselves down when their holidays don’t feel like the happy Christmas movies or the stereotypical Christmas cards — let alone our own memories of good old days. She offers advice and practical steps to let loose of some traditions, find camaraderie with others who are living out a “Blue Christmas”, and ways to rediscover true wonder and joy, in anticipation of the Gospel story.

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