When I did his orientation in August of 2009, I requested gear and was told this was a running team, not a football squad. When I first met him, I thought I’d be hard-pressed to crack his tough exterior. When he first declared his intent to finish the marathon, I knew I’d have to adjust my misconceptions.

It was the joke of the team that Charlie used “cheerful” as his epithet in the name game. Charlie didn’t smile. The deep gruff of his voice complimented the stern façade he maintained on his first day out in the circle. In skeptical protest of the positivity he encountered at 5:30 am, he was reluctant to fully embrace the running lifestyle or those who endorsed it.

Then, last week, he was in the Baltimore Running Festival.

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Runners at the Baltimore Running Festival, which featured several Back on My Feet members.

Every Friday, the Back on My Feet blog will feature a roundup of timely, prominent homelessness news, issues, concepts and trends from across the country and world. Subscribe to content regarding homelessness by way of either an RSS feed or e-mail blast.

• Generation Homeless: The New Faces of an Old Problem [Aol News] — “Young adults are the new face of homelessness” The trend is pointed to a crush in the nation’s foster care system and an economy that has been particularly hard on younger, less experienced and less skilled workers. Listen to similar experiences below.
• An expensive mission [Metro Philadelphia] — $80,000 in severe unexpected masonry repairs need for Philadelphia’s oldest homeless facility, the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, at which Back on My Feet was founded.

Below, a music industry celebrity talks about homelessness and hear from two homeless youth.

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Wow, October has flown by and now November is coming.  The weather has been crazy with the warm and cold weather.

The DePaul circle just keeps getting bigger every morning that we meet.  Frank T came to the DePaul House from Ridge, and we are so happy that he is apart of the family.

On Oct. 9^th, running along the side of Melissa C. at the Rest In Peace 5k, we had Fast Eddie, Ginny M., Steve L., and Matt B.  It was a wonderful and scenic route.  In our wonderful cheering section, we had Kat H., Keith H., and Baby Gavin.  We all dressed up as the Men in Black!

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Lenny Bernstein, fitness columnist for the Washington Post, recently did a piece titled ‘The MisFits’ where he and his colleague Vicky Hallett explored some of the runners in this Saturday’s Marine Corps Marathon who, for various reasons, had obstacles to overcome in getting to the start line.

Among a cancer survivor and a hand cyclist who lost his leg to an explosive device, was our very own Chris Hatton.

Chris, who was last month’s member of the month for D.C., hails from Team Emery House and will be the first BOMF D.C. resident member to run a marathon, which will be significant for him in many ways – most of all that it marks a year of freedom from incarceration.  It won’t be his first time running 26.2, though, as Chris celebrated his 26th birthday by running a marathon on the inside.

You can read more about Chris’ story and the obstacles he’s overcome in The MisFits.

Earlier this week, the Washington Post also covered our D.C. chapter working with Accenture.

You can help support Chris and Back on My Feet by donating to the organization here or by come out and cheering him on with the BOMF cheering section at mile 18 1/2. E-mail Gretchen@backonmyfeet.org for more information.

Also, be sure to check out the piece Competitor Magazine did on Chris here and a recent interview with Back on My Feet Founder, Anne Mahlum and Chris here.  Good luck Chris!

Malik, a Philadelphia Our Brother’s Place team member, took the opportunity to thank all of the fundracers who help support our mission of combating homelessness.

He addressed fundracers while talking to Philadelphia Program Coordinator Katie Pfiefer, after a recent Saturday training run for the Philadelphia Marathon.

Watch below.

It was another great month at Team Sheila Dennis!

We have been showing great improvements with our runs, adding both speed and distance.  We’ve paired up with running buddies and the ladies are really pushing one another to achieve more.  Doris and Rose have set the bar high with their speed during the timed mile and they encourage  their teammates everyday.

We also enjoyed a fun and scenic run through the city thanks to KPMG and Detours Touring Company.  We had a beautiful Saturday morning run spending time with our BOMF family and making news friends with the people from KPMG.

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This week, the Washington Post featured Back on My Feet D.C. and its partnership with Accenture’s ‘Skills to Succeed’ program.

Her fellow residents call her Sunshine and she says she is “ready to take it to the next level.” Noelle Beamon, an upbeat, college-educated 43-year-old woman became a resident of N Street Village, a home in Northwest Washington that provides services for homeless women, when she lost her retail job in 2008.

“I still have a lot to give, even at 43,” said Beamon, who seeks to reenter the workforce.

Beamon was among several N Street Village residents who attended a professionalism seminar hosted by consulting firm Accenture in partnership with Back on My Feet, a nonprofit that provides services to homeless people through a fitness program. MORE

Read the rest here.

Our morning weekday runs are usually kept between one and three miles due to conflicting schedules and expectations.

Ahead of big races, many of our chapters host Saturday morning runs, when we run farther. These training runs are a great place to get an extra run in while getting to know some of our members.

During one of our Philadelphia Saturday runs earlier this month, on Oct. 16, we took some video of some of the faces, many of whom are training for the upcoming Philadelphia Marathon next month.

Below, check out a slew of video taken by Program Director Owen Camuso.

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Compared to September with multiple races and events, October has been a quiet month for Team Ridge.

We spent the month building up our mileage for the Philly full and half marathons. This past weekend (Oct. 23^rd) the BOMF family gathered with KPMG for a 5k fun run through historic Philadelphia.  The route took us past Philly sites such as Elfreth’s Alley, the Liberty Bell and Reading Terminal.  Fun was had by all and a special thanks goes out to Detours Touring Company for supplying us with an awesome course.

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Our Baltimore chapter had a big presence at last week’s Baltimore Running Festival.

After WBAL previewed two of our THUMB crew runners, the chapter had a big pre-race dinner and hit the streets for the marathon and other runs.

We had 50 members and more than 100 volunteers running in the festival. See the photos here and video below.

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