Let’s start 2012 with a great run of outstanding individuals fighting the perception of homelessness one step at a time! Ryan Harms, Tom Boone and Elysa Nelson (also Non-Residential Member of the year!) have been recognized as Non-Residential Members of the month for January. Check out all of our Members of the Month below! And remember… double hugs are no joke!

Ryan Harms, Non-Residential Member, Dallas LIFE “It may be only for three hours a week, and it may not always give us a full picture of our Residential Members lives, but we at least get a peek in the window of their lives, and have the privilege of sharing in part of their story. I can’t tell you all how many times I hear how thankful our Residential Members are for the love and community we show them in the morning.  I think sometimes I forget how wonderful a listening ear can be… but they do not.”

Ricky R., Residential Member, Dallas LIFE Ricky has been an integral member of the Dallas LIFE team since October 2011. Having lost more than 50 pounds in a few short months, Ricky walks to be a part of the team and to improve his health.

Tom Boone, Non-Residential Member, Salvation Army “It’s a great way to start the day! My favorite part of running with Back on My Feet is the camaraderie.”

James T., Residential Member, Salvation Army James, a Vietnam veteran, joined Back on My Feet in November 2011. James worked as a Greyhound bus driver for more than 20 years but now enjoys the challenge of running with his teammates. James completed the Hotcake Hustle on January 14, 2012.

Elysa Nelson, Non-Residential Member, The Bridge “Back on My Feet has taught me how much room my heart still has left to love others. When I joined BoMF, I was worried I was over committing and that I wouldn’t be able to make as much time for the organization as I wanted. But I quickly learned that my heart had plenty of room for the amazing Residential and Non-Residential Members, and the friendships I have gained are incredible.”

Patrick R., Residential Member, The Bridge Patrick joined the Back on My Feet team at The Bridge in December 2011. He completed his first 5K at the Hotcake Hustle on January 14, 2012. “Back on My Feet means being a productive person.”

How to prevent burning out or fading away as a Back on My Feet volunteer

You volunteer because you are motivated, you want to make a difference, and frankly because it feels good.  Helping others is a good thing right?  But just like in the case of food or exercise, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.  Time spent volunteering can became a stressor when we are feeling overwhelmed and unable to meet the constant demands placed on us at work, home or even in our training.

How then can we be that superstar volunteer when life is busy?  Author James Robbins suggests 4 steps to maintain harmony and balance.

1. Reconnect with your purpose.  As a team member of Back on My Feet, you are helping to provide a safe and positive environment for all team members.  Just by showing up you are enhancing leadership skills, encouraging and motivating others and modeling responsibility and dedication.  Our team members trust you, and they appreciate that you are there for them.
2. Beware of emotionally draining situations.  Volunteering can have tremendous payback in terms of making a difference, but sometimes it is emotionally draining.  It’s important that you have a friend to talk to when you find yourself in these situations.  “We all need a help sometimes with perspective” Robbins states, “even if it’s just a reminder of our boundaries or acknowledgement of the difficulty of the situation.”
3. Think for the long term, and take a break.  It’s ok to take a few days, a week or even a month off from your role as a volunteer.  We want you to stick around for the long run, and a few weeks off may be just what you need to come back into your role feeling refreshed.  We’ll be happy to see you when you come back!
4.  Know that we appreciate YOU!  Your smiles, hugs and energy breathe life into the team.  You make a difference each week just by being you and for that we thank you, from the bottom of our heart.

Life is a balancing act. Juggling work and play, friends and family, heart and soul, and mind and body can be challenging. We’re so glad that being a member of Back on My Feet is a part of your repertoire.

- Jennifer Kimble, jennifer@backonmyfeet.org

Gloria Z., 47, joined Back on My Feet in February 2011 without knowing of the true life change that would take place. She had been on the streets since she was nine years old and did not know the possibility of escaping that environment. When she was at The Bridge, she had shelter but needed more. She needed a purpose in life.

Gloria grew up in San Antonio and survived by running from her problems or confronting them in the wrong way. Without a real family to love and support her, her life became chaotic and left her empty.

Drugs, violence, and mischief became a part of who she was. An addiction to heroine and joining a gang lead her further into desperation. She was desensitized to overcoming her problems and was rebellious against the world. Her addictions controlled her until she finally reached the end of her rope.

After a barrage of prison sentences, Gloria found hope and renewal. She became a new person and found the joy she has today. Her joy was revealed when she said, “I am blessed with a beautiful apartment.”  This statement that many people take for granted brought tears to her eyes. Not only has Gloria overcome many trials but she has found a fresh start and a home. Back on My Feet is her family and she does not want to let her family down.

Despite living on her own and defeating homelessness, Gloria still chooses to run with her Back on My Feet team. Her life story is a model for others at The Bridge. There is hope for the downtrodden and broken. She fought through the hardest times of her life and became the beautiful woman she is today. With encouragement and accountability like Back on My Feet, it is possible.

To see some of Gloria’s testimony and many others, click here. To run with Gloria and her teammates at The Bridge, email lea@backonmyfeet.org to get involved.

Greetings from the nearest Starbucks! The BoMF Dallas staff would like to take a second to explain just why we are seeking office space when working from home is so comfortable (literally). So here are the top three reasons why your organization should welcome in a hardworking, passionate team of four combating homelessness in Dallas.

1.       We work flexible hours.
Not quite sure you can handle a team of four for nine hours a day? That’s okay! Our team concentrates on business development, nurturing our Next Steps program and community outreach. What does that mean for you? We are rarely at our desks. Only have something available Tues-Thurs or have two cubicles available on Friday afternoons and Wednesdays between 12p to 3p? We are extremely flexible and will graciously accept any opportunity to place our files in a drawer.

2.       We are a small team.
Chris, Lea and Kristen make up the team here at BoMF Dallas. Yes, we’re growing, but we only plan to have one additional staff member join us in the next six months. We all smell great, never yell and have tons of positive energy to bring to your workspace. We really could fit in a sizable broom closet, but could definitely get used to stretching out in a warehouse space.

3.       We are passionate.
Let us brighten up your day with stories from our members rising above conflict on a daily basis. Our team has an infectious spirit that is the direct result of our members. We are looking for an organization that shares our passion and understands the mission of our organization: creating a community of determination, self-sufficiency and accountability.

Have a lead? Please contact Chris Jones at chris@backonmyfeet.org.

The sound of dimly lit street lamps buzzing in the darkness of the chilled morning air can be heard for miles. No cars are existent at the intersection of West and Washington in downtown Indianapolis. The waters of the canal below gently ripple with the crisp breeze that sweeps across and through surrounding foliage.

All is calm this morning. This morning of March 8 is sure to be a promising one for the man who waits on the corner of West and Washington.

Wearing brand new tennis shoes and navy blue sweat suit, the man awaits the moment, the moment that he and hundreds of locals have been waiting to celebrate together.

The man rises to his feet and begins to jog to the west, where those locals await him. Jogging. The simple act of jogging with a community is what this day is all about for him.

“Woo hoo! Now we’re talkin’!” Wylie Belasik said through a bull horn borrowed from headquarters. “Man, does Indy have spirit.”

To some, encouragement is the key to their success in everything they do. For this man, the small gesture of gathering together in a circle is all it takes.  People of different backgrounds, races, and religions gathering together, forming one community was all it took. Read more…

What a weekend! Dallas, and Texas, is buzzing with the news of the Back on My Feet launch and we are excited to offer up this brief but all encompassing recap of events that led to our first chapter in the Lone Star State.

Run On!, the Dallas chapter’s running store partner, hosted a shoe fitting on Saturday morning for 30 of our residential members and offered up beanies, t-shirts, shoes and socks. Needless to say, the store was packed with members from all over Dallas and included some of our very good friends from New Balance. Run On! was extremely accommodating and had seven employees come in to help with the fitting . The local Einstein’s also donated breakfast for everyone. The shoe fitting was an excellent example of how multiple companies in Dallas gave what they could and produced an outstanding and far-reaching event! You can see more photos from the shoe fitting here. Our residential members were literally dancing in the aisles of the store. Thank you Run On!, New Balance and Einstein’s!

Of course all of the energy from the morning shoe fitting carried over to the actual launch run on Monday morning. Yes, it was Valentine ’s Day, but many of our members were preoccupied with what some have confirmed as one of the most important moments of their lives. The Monday morning run began with 100+ members at the Main Street Garden Park in downtown Dallas at 5:45 a.m. led by Wylie Belasik, VP of Programming and cowboy hat enthusiast, the run started with television cameras from channels 4, 5, 11 and 33. Look to this blog for some of the exciting media coverage in the future!

After the one mile run, ACE Cash Express executives were excited to hand over a check in the amount of $18,000 to Anne and the rest of the Back on My Feet Dallas team.  We could not have pulled off the launch without the extensive help of our sponsors. They are incredibly supportive and have been our biggest advocates. Thank you ACE, Accenture, Marriott and Holt Lunsford Commercial!

Registration for breakfast began promptly at 8 a.m. at the Marriott City Center in Dallas. The Marriott team worked with the Dallas team almost every day for the month leading up to the event and the work paid off as guests were treated to 600+ gift bags, t-shirts, water bottles and a hot breakfast.

The program featured Terri Dolan of Marriott, Jay Shipowitz of ACE Cash Express, Mike Rawlings, a Dallas mayoral candidate, Kevin Pollari of Accenture, Anne Mahlum and Charlie Tiller, a Baltimore alumni member. The entire audience was mesmerized by Charlie’s story and gave him a standing ovation at the end of his speech.

As they say, everything is bigger in Texas, and this launch did not disappoint. The people of Dallas are excited and eagerly connecting with the Back on My Feet team to learn more and get involved. Look here for more great news from Texas!

It’s not the first time Greg Staffa is taking a road trip with a storyline of homelessness.

In 2008, the 35-year-old native of Farmington, Minn., outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul, where Back on My Feet is launching a chapter next year, drove 9,000 miles across 48 U.S. states to promote better understanding of homeless populations, of which he was a part in 2001. A year later, on Dec. 18, 2009 Staffa says he found himself again living out of his car, after losing a job with Northwest Airlines and then having his home foreclosed, as told to the Huffington Post last year.

Now he has undertaken another cross-country road trip, this time visiting the capitals of all 48 continental U.S. states to help lobby for more attention to issues of a new class of homelessness in the United States, one affecting previously stable portions of working-class Americans due to extended unemployment.

He is currently in the Midwest, working his way toward the East Coast in early next year. Follow his travels on Twitter here. Below, we spoke to Staffa, 35, about his experiences.

Read more…

Nov. 14-20 is National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week. As part of our effort to continue to further the dialogue around homelessness, this week we are hosting Personal Reflections on Homelessness here on the Back on My Feet blog.

For this series, we have asked one BOMF member in each city to reflect on their experience of homelessness.

Below, we speak to Jerel, a Chicago REST team member.

How would you describe the experience of being homeless in Chicago?

After the initial shock of being homeless finally sunk in, I knew I had to rely on other means to live. As a result of being homeless in a city, like Chicago, with endless opportunities, I quickly learned that only if you’re willing to help yourself then are people willing to help you get re-established.

What were people’s personalities like?

Although there are many conflicting personalities everywhere you go in life, I was actually surprised by the response of other homeless people such as myself willing to help me get settled in.

Read more…

Gael Henville leading the Boston chapter's inaugural run on May 24, 2010. Photo by John Deputy.

The team leader of the Boston chapter’s New England Center for Homeless Veterans, Gael Henville, bravely spoke to those in attendance at last month’s first Orientation 2.0

Henville, now 41, was homeless for seven months due to finally leaving an abusive relationship, having “sought self-validation” through an addiction to abuse from age 19 to 35.

Read more…

Amos Marshall speaks at the first Back on My Feet Boston Orientation 2.0, a forum in which issues of homelessness.

Drinking was a long partner in Amos Marshall losing “the best jobs” and fizzling a marriage.

Now he’s on the long road to recovery.

At Boston’s first Orientation 2.0, a forum to engage the community on the challenges and solutions of homelessness, Marshall spoke about his own path, which you can watch below.