Back on My Feet- The Power of Running to Overcome Homelessness

Running is a metaphor for life. Taking one step at a time, and planning out milestones, you can achieve in life and running. Back on My Feet is giving individuals in homeless shelters the opportunity to turn their life around, and this is a powerful episode to change your perspective on just what running can do.

I’m excited to have a fellow Brit on the show today!

Katy Sherratt is the CEO of Back On My Feet, a non-profit organization that helps homeless and those down on their luck get – you guessed it! – back on their feet.

But they do it with running!

Members of Back On My Feet meet three times a week for morning runs on top of interview training, health and wellness education, and other services that help them find jobs and get their lives running again.

As CEO, Katy brings her philanthropic eye and economics experience to an already thriving business.

We discuss the ways she’s increased donations, increased programmatic impact, and improved the ways the company measures the success of its members.

There are waiting lists of people waiting to participate in Back On My feet, and Katy shares the way we can all help out.

Running is a metaphor for life. Taking one step at a time, and planning out milestones, you can achieve in life and running. Back on My Feet is giving individuals in homeless shelters the opportunity to turn their life around, and this is a powerful episode to change your perspective on just what running can do.

Here are some of the topics we’ll discuss today:

  • Everything Katy’s accomplished with Back On My Feet
  • How health and success work together to create social wellness
  • The ways running builds self-esteem and empowers individuals
  • How individuals and the corporate world work together for social wellness
  • What we can all do to be more socially aware
  • How we can donate our time and money to Back On My Feet

Questions Katy is asked:

3:34 When did Katy move over to the United States?

4:30 Why is running so special?

5:33 Do you run in the mornings?

7:02 What has Katy accomplished with Back On My Feet?

9:00 What is Back On My Feet and how does it work?

11:28 Everyone with Back On My Feet gets a free pair of running shoes

12:08 What’s it like being a Back On My Feet alumni?

13:13 How did you convince your sponsors to get involved?

15:05 How many members join marathons?

16:10 Which cities participate in Back On My Feet?

17:06 How can we get in touch with Back On My Feet?

18:10 How big can Back On My Feet get?

19:24 How do the sponsors help members find jobs and get back on their feet?

21:20 Does Back On My Feet offer interview training for members?

22:32 How do donations work with Back On My Feet?

24:45 What attracted Katy to Back On My Feet?

25:53 What attracts Katy to social wellness?

26:40 What social differences do you see between the UK and the USA?

28:22 Are things moving in the right direction?

29:35 How many different ways can corporations work with Back On My Feet?

31:11 Why is running so empowering?

33:43 What moment brought it home for Katy?

36:29 How Katy’s mom inspires her

38:07 How is the running community like a family?

39:20 How does recruitment work?

41:15 Why do you start running so early in the morning?

43:27 The story that impacted Katy the most

46:28 What happens at the beginning and the end of each run?

49:18 The Final Kick Round!

Quotes by Katy:

“I run a mile a minute in how I act in daily life, and for me when I go running it’s a moment of clarity.”

“Back On My Feet starts with running.”

“Companies and corporations want to work with non-profits in a unique way. They want a variety of ways.”

“The reason we use running is because anyone can do it. We are born to run.”

Take a Listen on Your Next Run

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[bctt tweet=”Incredibly motivating and heartwarming. Loved this Run to the Top podcast episode with Back on My Feet!” username=”Runners_Connect”]

Links:

Back On My Feet

Back on My Feet Twitter

Back on My Feet Facebook

Back on My Feet Instagram

To get involved: info@backonmyfeet.org

Cities currently involved:

Atlanta

Austin

Baltimore

Boston

Chicago

Dallas

Indianapolis

Washington DC

Philadelphia

New York

Los Angeles

San Francisco

How to get your business involved: partners@backonmyfeet.org

November Project

Born to Run Chris McDougall

November Project

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