Above: Kevin Batsford with one of the Hire Ground program vehicles.
Homeless and addicted to drugs, man finds new purpose
By Eileen Jevis
Staff writer
Kevin Batsford received a gift that he never thought possible — his children are again a part of his life. For years, Kevin was homeless, not knowing where his next meal would come from or whether he would survive another day. Due to bad decisions on his part, he explained, he became addicted to crack cocaine and alcohol. As the addiction progressed, he walked away from his family and ended up living on the streets. “I was sleeping under a bridge. I was one of those guys you see holding a cardboard sign on the off-ramps,” he said.
John Tumino, co-director of In My Father’s Kitchen, drove past Batsford at an intersection one day in 2013 and heard God telling him to give Batsford a message. Twenty minutes later, Tumino returned with lunch and introduced himself. “I want you to know that you’re not invisible,” said Tumino. “The Lord sees you and I see you. The Lord wanted me to feed you.” It was that interaction that changed the course of Kevin’s life.
“I asked myself, Who is this guy?” Batsford recalled. “John gave me lunch and a few days later, he came back and brought me another lunch and prayed with me. We got to know each other and, over time, became friends.”
Batsford’s brother was also homeless. He and a friend were living in an abandoned house and started a fire to keep warm. The house became engulfed, and they both died. Losing his brother was the trigger that led Batsford to get the help he needed. A few months after his brother died, Batsford was walking past the Salvation Army Adult Rehab Center on Erie Boulevard. “I had probably walked past there 1,000 times on my journeys while getting drugs or whatever,” he explained. “But that day, something made me stop and I heard a voice in my head that told me to go in; to turn the corner.” Batsford entered the facility and was told a bed was available. “I didn’t know at the time that God was guiding me. A few weeks into his stay, Batsford visited the chapel, got down on his knees and gave it all to God. When he woke up the next morning, the anxiety and chaos he had lived with for so long was gone.
The face of homelessness
The face of homelessness has changed since John Tumino and his wife, Leigh-Ann, started their mission 13 years ago. They are seeing a much younger population — people in their 20s and 30s who are struggling with addiction as well as untreated mental-health issues. “The number of women living on the streets has really ramped up, which is scary because women are more vulnerable emotionally and physically,” explained Tumino.
“People are quick to judge when they see someone on the street holding up a sign,” added Leigh-Ann. ”People don’t choose to live outside. There is always some type of trauma, something that led them to start using drugs.”
At the time of this interview on Dec. 4, 2023, Tumino said that approximately 600 individuals spent the night in shelters the previous evening. There are dozens more who won’t go to a shelter. But for the 15 or so who won’t go into a shelter despite the winter conditions, John and his team check on them on a regular basis.
Human trafficking
The Tuminos explained that the vulnerability homeless women face often results in their crossing over into human trafficking or sex trafficking. Because of physical and emotional trauma, the Tuminos said women become a commodity. “The sex-trafficking industry in Syracuse is very tight and very big,” they said.
Colleen Merced, the executive director at McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Center, said they work with 140-155 youth per year who are at high risk of being victims of human trafficking. Merced explained that although there is no defining characteristic that all victims share, traffickers frequently prey on individuals who are poor, vulnerable, living in an unsafe situation. “Our advocates provide an array of services, clinical case management and therapy,” she said. “We work with youth in the community, building a relationship with them and helping them.” One of the ways that McMahon Ryan and other agencies assist victims of human and sex trafficking is by working with the Syracuse Human Trafficking Court to place victims in a safe location away from their traffickers.
That safe place is offered through another program created by the Tuminos. When a community member donated a house to the organization, they established Life House, a residential program that offers women a safe, comfortable, rent-free home to work on changing their lives. “By collaborating with professionals, community agencies, trauma-informed staff and Human Trafficking Courts, we are able to help women navigate the system so their journey to healing can begin,” explained Leigh-Ann.
A hand up, not a handout
Kevin Batsford said God got him through those difficult months of detox and rehab and when he graduated from the program, he was anxious to leave. “But the Salvation Army hired me,” he said, “and John was my mentor through it all.” And John helped Batsford find an apartment and get another job. He drove a truck for four years before he was hired to manage the Hire Ground Program for the Tuminos.
Hire Ground team members meet people where they are, literally, in homeless camps and on the streets.
Hire Ground is a collaborative partnership with Onondaga County that gives panhandlers and the unemployed homeless an opportunity for change in their lives by offering work experience through day labor.
Four days a week, a Hire Ground van picks up nine individuals at various locations throughout the city and transports them to job sites to work on beautification and projects such as picking up trash on highways, streets and parks. “We feed them breakfast, lunch and snacks for the day and provide transportation back to the pickup locations,” explained Batsford. They also receive a $50 stipend. The program has given over 450 panhandling individuals a hand up, not a handout.
Since his recovery and a renewed purpose in life, Kevin has reunited with his daughters and granddaughter. “It’s been almost 10 years since I’ve been clean and off the streets,” he said. “I have my daughters back in my life — and we live as a family. I have a great job and a nice house.” Batsford said his story is one of transformation — that God can redeem and forgive us. “If he can do it for me, he can do it for anyone, right?”
Even though Batsford knew that God was with him, he wondered why he was chosen to survive. “But then I realized that God helped me get clean so that I could help other guys, you know? So, it’s all God. He’s done so much in my life, and he just continues to bless me.”
Batsford said that in the five years he’s worked at In My Father’s Kitchen, 24 homeless men and women have died on the streets. He and the Tuminos knew each of these individuals and like all they serve, called them friends. “Those deaths really weigh on me sometimes,” he said. “When you’re addicted to drugs or sleeping on the streets, you just never know what’s going to happen.”
Batsford’s wish is that no one would be sleeping outside. And despite the hardships, deaths and trauma that are part of the world he is connected to, he said there is always hope. On that day long ago in the chapel at the Salvation Army, Batsford read a Bible passage (Jeremiah 29:11) that inspires him each day. “For I know the plans for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
“No matter how old you are, how far along you are in your addiction, it’s never too late,” Batsford said. “When you’re ready to get help, know that you’re not alone. I couldn’t have done it alone, that’s for sure.”
