The residential member of the month for Emery house is John C.!!  He’s a transfer from 801 East but has been a welcome addition to the Emery family! He battled back from a foot injury and came out just to walk when he couldn’t run. With winter, he’s been bundled up to his eyeballs but you can always see the smile in them. He helped Emery win SECOND PLACE at the SnOlympics, participating in every event except the tug-of-war.

The non-residential member of the month is Dion H.!  Dion, a long-time resident of the district,  has been running since former Mayor Fenty’s father owned a running store.  One of Emery house’s more experienced runners, Dion always has a warm smile and a great hug! Dion’s been particularly great about coming out in the cold and snow, and always had a welcomed word of caution regarding running on snow and ice.

As mentioned above Emery House placed second in the first annual Back on My Feet DC’s SnOlympics!  Fun times were had that day, and even funnier pictures were taken!

Emery House ended the month of December in style.  The team’s social coordinator (and all around greatest party planner in the world) Kathy M. hosted a family Christmas Eve dinner at her home with her family and her BOMF family.  Emery House also participated in the Inaugural Open Mic Night and Talent show with a team dance performance, Thriller by Michael Jackson!  The team was well represented at the Holiday Hawaiian Luau and Award Ceremony with Scotty W. receiving an award for having 100% attendance for over 8 months in the program, the resident with longest perfect attendance record!

This month Walter B. and Wayne D. were selected as the team members of the month.  Walter started out running with BOMF when he was at Team La Casa, but moved over to Emery house a couple of months later.  He’s become one of the longest distance running members here in DC.  The National Marathon coming up in March is on the horizon for him, as well as for members Scotty W., and Chris H. (of Marine Corps Marathon fame).   Emery has some members gearing up for the National Half Marathon and the Relay as well.  Wayne D., a volunteer with Emery House from the start of the chapter here in Washington, DC still finds time to make it out on the cold morning runs.  A veteran of over 35 marathons(!!!), Wayne is a stalwart Saturday morning runner who shares his love, and knowledge, of running with everyone on the team.

Everyone knows that BOMF members are talented – however, on December 9th BOMF DC blew everyone out of the water at the Inaugural Open Mic Night & Talent Show!  Volunteers, members, staff and supporters gathered together at Ebenezers Coffeehouse on Capitol Hill and took immediately to the stage!  Team leaders served as judges and the competition was definitely stiff. Read more…

Back on My Feet can impact people whether they are part of our organization or not. We hope to share testimonials from anyone who has a story to tell about their experience with our organization. Contact us if you have one to share!

This testimonial comes from Vicky Vadlamani of Back on My Feet Washington D.C. Team Emery House:

I was laid off in February, and after a few weeks of having no luck, for a long time fell into a serious depression. I would go days without leaving my house, or sometimes even showering, as foul as that sounds. Without a routine, I was sleeping during the day and staying up all hours of the night, and became a social recluse. I have been running for most of my adult life, and have always used that to relive stress and tension, but I had come to the point where I couldn’t even motivate myself to lace up my shoes.

Lily Badger, a friend of mine, told me that after she quit her job she found BOMF and it gave her a purpose. I realized I needed that in my life, so as soon as the DC chapter opened, I joined Team Emery House. As sappy as it sounds, it was the motivation I needed to get my life and my confidence back on track. As someone who defines herself by her career success, not having that really affected my self esteem. With BOMF I was able to focus and devote time and energy on someone other than myself. It was great to be able to share my love for running with someone who needed a motivator more than I did. I have no doubt that the members of BOMF did more for me than I could ever do for them, and for that I am truly grateful.

All 6 Back on My Feet DC teams had a chance to come together and celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday as a family.  Each team was paired with another to host dinner and share a meal with other BOMF they might not otherwise get to know as well.

First up was Clean & Sober Streets and N Street Village.  They held their meal at the Back on My Feet offices and, although space was limited, food was not!  With both teams present, it made for a big group – and everyone had a great time.

Next came 801 East and Blair House’s Thanksgiving Dinner.  Both teams were hosted by an 801 non-res and the event was well attended.  Throughout the day, the teams played cornhole, pool, football and of course cheered the Redskins on to victory!  And of course there was no shortage of food – especially Anastasia’s famous BOMF cookies!  Non-res John M. did an excellent job carving the turkey and Todd M.’s ribs were a hit!

Finally, La Casa hosted Emery House at their facility and everyone got their fill of food!  With Kathy M. doing the party planning, there’s never any shortage of food or festivities.  Both La Casa and Emery House members enjoyed the time with their BOMF families and getting to know one another a little better!

All the turkey consumed will be put to good use, as BOMF DC will run the So Others Might Eat Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning.  Best of luck to everyone running!  You can view pictures of all the dinners here!

Last Saturday, 12 members of BOMF DC gathered to give back to the local community at Bread for the City.  BFC is an organization that provides vulnerable residents of Washington, DC, with comprehensive services, including food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services, in an atmosphere of dignity and respect.

Half of the group helped to create Turkey dinners that would be sent out to needy families and individuals in the area.  An assembly line was formed and all the trimmings were represented, including turkey, stuffing, corn, green beans, and of course cranberries!

The other half spent their morning sorting clothes in the center’s clothing room.  We definitely made some headway organizing the room, so that people and families could come find warm weather gear to survive the winter.  Eric B. and Luke H. even found next year’s Halloween costumes!

A huge thanks to Bread for the City for allowing us to participate in their Holiday Helpings this year…and a shout out to teams 801 East, Emery House, Blair House & La Casa for representing at the event!

View the photos here.

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!

September was a great month for team Emery House!

Four of the fourteen runners to cross the finish line at the Woodrow Wilson Half Marathon were from Emery House, while a few others who weren’t running volunteered at the finish and did a fabulous job of cheering everyone on.

The entire team had a great meal together at the pre-race-pasta-carbo-loading-party hosted by non-res runners Kathy & Dave M.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves – stuffing their faces with pasta and jamming out on Rock Band.

Also, many Emery House members came to the September social – BOMF’s Night at the Nats – and enjoyed watching the Nationals beat the Astros!

Read more…

On Sept. 19th, 2010 there were a number of firsts to happen: it was the first year for the Woodrow Wilson Bride Half Marathon, it was the first race over an 8K that Back on My Feet D.C. participated in, and, for 14 of our members, it was their first half marathon!

Amidst a crowd of 4,000, BOMF residential and non-res members kicked asphalt the entire 13.1 miles.

There were 14 resident members and 20 non-residents from Emery House, Blair House, Clean and Sober Streets and 801 East teams running the race. We additionally had more than 20 BOMF-ers volunteering or cheerleading throughout the course.

Read more…

Emery House raised the most money in Washington, DC for Back On My Feet’s July fundraising drive and won tickets to the see the Washington Nationals take on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Even with the disappointing news about the Nat’s young phenom pitcher, Steven Strasburg, being out for the coming season, the stadium was in high spirits for a the Friday evening game!  Back On My Feet staffed the Community Desk inside the stadium to greet fans and to spread the word about BOMF.

With the All Feet On Deck 5K fun run the following morning it was a busy weekend for the Emery house members and volunteers. Pictures from the race can be seen here!

Read more…