Q: What does your organization do?
A: We’re a national nonprofit that helps men and women struggling with homelessness and substance abuse and, occasionally, returning to society after being incarcerated.
We provide help with employment and housing and use running as a platform, or common ground, to build a community of support for members.
The name is a play on words. It refers to people trying to get back on their feet, and to the connection with running.
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Q: How did you get involved with Back on My Feet?
A: Three years ago, I was living in Helping Up Mission here in Baltimore, one of Back on My Feet’s partners that provides shelter and addiction recovery services.
As a teen living here, I had started drinking and smoking marijuana, and pretty soon getting high consumed me. I moved on to pills and then heroin. I had a lot going for me — I had a soccer scholarship and was in my third year of college at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, but I squandered the opportunity. I dropped out and later lost my job and my house.
A friend who volunteers with Back on My Feet suggested I run with the group at Helping Up Mission, and I did. The support and encouragement I found reeled me in.
Q: Do you still run?
A: I do. In addition to Helping Up Mission, we partner with four other organizations, and I rotate among groups. It helps me personally, but my focus is on building relationships with our members during runs.
We start by meeting in a circle at 5:30 a.m.
Running is the great equalizer. Having conversations with fellow runners, especially volunteers with professional jobs, or alumni who were doing well, showed me that I wasn’t the loser I thought I was. It also has so many health benefits and is a great replacement for negative behaviors.
Q: How did this job come about?
A: Our chapter’s executive director and our program manager came to me with the idea for this position. I had completed the mission’s one-year program while living in transition housing. I had returned to college and was finishing my undergrad degree at the University of Baltimore and was still in Back on My Feet.
We ran together, and they told me their vision. I interviewed and was offered the job, and have been here over a year now.
Q: How do you measure success?
A: On one hand, it’s how many members succeed in getting jobs, often with one of our employer partners like Marriott International, and how many get established in housing. We have many of those.
But for me it goes deeper. I want to see what alumni are doing with those opportunities.
Are they grateful for what they’ve received, and are they staying connected with their community? One of our alumni came to us with the idea of starting a partnership with Penn North Recovery, an addiction treatment center here, which shows great initiative. They’re now a partner.
I wish I had only success stories, but some people don’t stay engaged and leave. Sometimes it takes more than one try.
Then there are alumni who join me when I speak to teens in the community about addiction. They’re a shining light we hold up to kids.
Q: How do you assess your own progress?
A: This job has allowed me to take the worst experience of my life and spin it as an asset instead of a liability. I’ve been there, which helps me help others. I’m also enrolled in a master’s program in counseling, so I’ll be able to help members even more.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Patricia R. Olsen © 2018 The New York Times