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| Many nonprofit organizations remain a prominent fixture within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, despite its frequent association with the government sector. Back on My Feet, a national nonprofit established in 2007, maintains a local chapter here to focus on helping people experiencing homelessness by combining the mental benefits of exercise with community support for job placement and housing assistance. |
| Lainey Johnson '16, the Workforce Development Manager at the organization, first heard about the company through a W&L connection during her Elrod Fellowship. Passionate about working with adults experiencing homelessness and addressing issues of race, mental illness, and addiction, Johnson knew that Back on My Feet's mission greatly aligned with the work she wanted to do. |
| "We first recruit individuals to run with us. The running requirement is loose, it is more about the act of coming out and being part of the teams, whether that's running or walking or a combination of both," Johnson explained. "Normally, although not currently, we host three weekly runs at 5:45 am and as a part of the program, we ask our members to participate in 90-100% of these morning runs. After that routine is established, and after members become more acquainted with staff, volunteers, and other members, we use that foundation to then build up workforce skills. The bulk of my time is spent on developing those workforce skills for our members." |
| As a part of this development process, Johnson assists with editing resumes, drafting cover letters, and working with established employment partnerships or finding opportunities online. The majority of Johnson's work centers on one-on-one and group sessions to help develop the skills needed to reenter the workforce. |
| Along with this individual-level support, Back on My Feet can also help through providing individual work equipment such as laptops or transportation to the members' new jobs. Because of their extensive programming, the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the organization to find new ways to continue to connect with its members. |
| "One of our biggest challenges is that group exercise is the foundation of our program and helps build a crucial aspect of our community," Johnson said. "We've really had to pivot how we foster and maintain a sense of community when we aren't together and we made activities as virtual as possible, which is especially challenging when we have different members staying at different programs. We're at the mercy of the facility staff's availability to set up Zoom meetings, but not all of our members have phones or devices capable of doing video calls." |
| If video calls are not possible with members, Johnson and other organizers text or place weekly phone calls to check in so they can continue to create a sense of community virtually. By virtue of a generous donation by a board member, Johnson is now able to run virtual workouts and workshops with some members, significantly helping their community building efforts as social distancing only amplifies the technological barriers many vulnerable populations face. |
| The pandemic exposes more vulnerable populations to increased financial, emotional, and physical risk due to a lack of access to the tools they need, affordable housing, and job opportunities. However, Johnson admires her members' ability to adapt to the challenges they face and their capacity to maintain a positive perspective as they work to gain more stability in their lives. |
| "Their perspective and their ability to just take things in stride has been really inspiring to me. We always say the Serenity Prayer at the start of all of our morning runs and that's borrowed from the model of Alcoholics Anonymous programming. Together we say, 'God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference' and that's been a great model in this time. There's a lot that's out of our control and a lot that we can't change, and it is critical to embrace what we now can do and to work from there. Our members remind me of that every day and make it worth doing what we do." |
| For those who are interested in learning more about the work and mission of Back on My Feet, visit their website for information and opportunities. |
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