We at BOMF’s Brotherhood Mission running team – based out of Fishtown, Philadelphia – have made the most of our time together during the first month of 2011, and our last full month as a BOMF team.  To celebrate our 2-year anniversary and say farewell as a BOMF team, Angel and Luis cooked up some Latin-goodness for us and we sat down to reflect on our experiences together and share what we’ve learned.  Checkout our video…

Deirdre is our non-residential member of the month.  Without Deirdre our cookoff/party wouldn’t have happened.  Deirdre organized the event, took Angel and Luis out food shopping, and even found time to bake dessert.  Deirdre has brought a lot of energy and a positive attitude at all times to the Brotherhood team in 2010 and 2011, especially on the night of the cookoff!

Luis and Angel get to share being the residential members of the month after cooking us up a delicious meal for our 2-year anniversary/farewell party.  Both of them have been with us since the fall of 2010, and have brought plenty of energy, commitment, and laughter to our early morning runs, races, and special events.

Lately, we’ve had some significant accomplishments within Back on My Feet’s Brotherhood Mission running team, and most importantly we continue to grow closer as a team.  Pictured from left to right above: Luis, Liz, Andrew, and Angel joined new Team Leader to cheer on our fellow team members Stacy, Dan, Katie, Debbie, Rachelle, Deirdre, Barb, Ashley, JD, and Marcy who all ran either the ½ marathon or full. Congratulations to all our runners! Read more…

October was a relatively quiet month for the Brotherhood Mission Team, but a welcome rest from a busy and hot summer. Engines needed to be recharged as November will prove to be a busy, and exciting month to come. Though the month was not marked with a ton of events, October was filled with accomplishments and promising additions.

None bigger than the thrill the team had to have our own Brother James Jones as the Philadelphia Back on My Feet chapter’s Member of the Month. Brother James had worked hard to graduate from a Green Jobs training program, in addition to being a constant source of strength to the team at large. Brother James is a treasure, and a unique presence on the team. To have him acknowledged by the whole Chapter for something as a team we have known for some time, was truly a highlight for everyone.

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It was the first annual Brotherhood Mission Halloween Costume Competition. It was definitely a fierce contest this year, and I think the Judges had their hands full trying to pick the winner. Brother James was a strong yet controversial contender  dressed as Derek Jeter.

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September was an incredibly exciting month for the Brotherhood Mission Team. The sweltering heat of summer finally broke, and made way for a refreshing cool breeze to pass through Fishtown. In addition to the beginning of Fall, September also saw some really amazing developments for the Brotherhood Mission guys.

Victor continues to take the streets of Fishtown by storm, and proving that although he has just started running, there is no stopping him. Victor, who has been running for little over two months, completed an astounding 14 mile training run two weekends ago.

Stacy and Tyrone proved why they are the veteran leaders of the Team, completing the Philadelphia Rock N Roll Half Marathon. For Tyrone it was the furthest he had ever run, and side by side with Calli, turned in a solid performance. Stacy, along with his running partner Debbie, shaved quite a bit of time off his record Half Marathon time, and felt very strong. Both men, are continuing on their way to the Philadelphia Marathon.

September also saw some really terrific milestones. Stacy Stone was awarded a personal achievement plaque for surpassing 500 miles. It was the first of its kind to be given to a member of the Brotherhood Mission team. Along the same lines, Brother James graduated from a green jobs training program, and has returned to the school for additional training. Brother James was also named Philadelphia Back on My Feet member of the month.

Non-Res Member of the Month: Jessica Matynka

Jessica has been a vital part of the Brotherhood Mission family since the day she joined six months ago. She serves both as big sister and cheerleader for the team, and is always willing to lend a hand. This past month saw Jessica step in to become the new social coordinator for the team, and has already begun planning some exciting events.

“She is definitely our best cheerleader, her positive presence is felt everywhere, from races to marathon training runs.” Said Team Leader Dan.

Most mornings you can find Jessica, chasing after the speedy Victor, both finishing the run with a big smiles on their faces. The Brotherhood Team is lucky to have her, and looks forward to what she has in store for the team next.

Res Member of the Month: Victor Rodriguez

Victor Rodriguez, though a relatively new runner, should never be confused for an amateur runner. From the first day he laced up his shoes with the Brotherhood Mission team, Victor has been setting the streets of Fishtown ablaze. Incredibly energized from the start, Victor has continued that dedication over the past two months, improving not only his distance but his pace as well.

“I’ll never forget the image of Victor leading the Tim Kerr 7 mile run.” Said Team Leader Dan. “It was a perfect display of the type of heart that he has. He ran a 14 mile training run two weeks ago, and he’s only been running for a little over two months! It took me close to a year to do that!”

There doesn’t seem to be any signs of Victor slowing down either. Truth be told, the only challenge Victor faces during most morning runs, is finding someone who can keep up with him.

“He is delight to have on the team,” Dan adds, “I can’t wait to see what he does next.”

In high school, Brother James Jones of Team Brotherhood Mission was an athlete.

In West Philadelphia High School, James used to play basketball, run track and even placed second in the city for gymnastics. After high school, James received his associate’s degree in business administration from Pasadena City College.

His life took him in many different directions and years later he found himself at a low point in his life.

He knew he had to make some definite changes and “get back into the swing of God,” he says now.

Late November, James asked his pastor and spiritual mentor, Sister Pruitt, to pray for him.  He entered Brotherhood Mission in December of 2009 and began running with Back on my Feet a short time thereafter.

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Team Brotherhood Mission had a fantastic month of August, as not even the heat could slow our guys down.

The month was highlighted by some really awesome additions to the team, in the form of some new residents and volunteers. Brotherhood welcomed Victor and Gregory to the team, and all were impressed with how quickly they took to the program.

Gregory, a transplant from Baltimore,  has already racked up an impressive amount of miles, as he eases into his new found running career. He is welcome addition to the team, and brings a warm hearted smile to our mornings through Penn Treaty Park.

Victor, our other new runner, has hit the ground running, literally. When he is not sprinting through the streets of Fishtown, he can be found doing some push ups in the parking lot.

“He is very talented runner” says Team Leader Dan, “Our volunteers love running with him, when they can keep up”

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July was another exciting month for the Brotherhood Mission Squad. The weather really began to heat up this past month, but in true Brotherhood fashion, the team learned to adapt, adopting the post run fist bump/back pat to bypass the sweaty hug. Despite the heat, Brotherhood’s training continued, which led to some impressive results on the race course.

Non-res member Greg participated in the Vermont 100-mile ultra marathon, and made the team proud. Several residential and non-residential members also committed to train for their first full marathon, and began this tremendous undertaking.

But the highlight of the month came at the third annual Stroehmann Back on My Feet 20in24 race event last month.

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Brotherhood Mission

It’s officially summertime here with the Brotherhood Mission Team, and the weather wasn’t the only thing that heated up this month.

June was a very exciting and busy month for the Team, and one marked with a lot of really positive changes. Juan officially moved out and has been able to secure a job, that he will be able to start in the coming weeks. Ovidio also made a similar move to South Carolina, where he plans to continue running as much as he can. Scott was able to secure a job at Goodwill, joining current employee Stacy.

In addition to all of these great steps forward, the Brotherhood Mission Team also had strong showings on the race course.

Stacy, Juan, Ovidio, Jesse, Tyrone, Frank, James, and Chris joined volunteers Kathy, Katie, Peter, Brian, and Kris at the Moorestown 8k. And despite some incredibly difficult weather conditions, all were able to post some really great times.

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More than 125 members, volunteers, staff and friends of Back on My Feet Philadelphia met outside City Hall for a birthday team relay race event this Friday, July 2, 2010 morning.

All eight Philadelphia teams were represented, cheering loudly and wearing birthday hats at 5:30 a.m. just a short subway ride away from where the organization first launched two years and 364 days ago. The highlight of the morning was a relay race around City Hall, in which members had to hand off a birthday hat to tag the next member in their five-person team. See video of the relay race start here and running here and here.

The runners from the Outley House team claimed victory, retaining the crown from last year’s relay race fun. Below, watch Outley House team members celebrate, in addition to other videos.

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