Helping Others to Get Back on Their Feet – Anne Mahlum

Homelessness is a national problem – and it's all of our problem. But it's not easy to know how to help people to get out of homelessness with dignity and support. Anne Mahlum took an idea and made it flourish into a national organization called Back on My Feet. The nonprofit combats homelessness in the D.C. area, and around the country, through the power of running, community support, employment guidance and housing resources.

Back on My Feet now works in 14 major cities across the United States with the vision of restoring confidence, strength and self-esteem to people to help them deal with the hurdles ahead. They provide practice training and employment resources to be independent and a community for support and accountability.

The running component of Back on Your Feet enables homeless people to run with volunteers and to build their confidence. It's less important how far they run then how they feel while they are running. Anne Mahlum is a marathon runner, herself, and she understood how important regular exercise can be for self confidence and health. So far, Back on My Feet has logged 950,000 miles run.

In addition, they have helped 7500 members to find employment and housing and have found an 83% retention rate of employment for their members. There are over 150,000 volunteers and supporters with Back on My Feet. In 2019, Anne Mahlum raised $102,927 for the New York chapter of the organization when she ran a marathon in Antarctica. There are so many ways to be involved, to raise money, to give of your time and yourself, to help others in need in D.C. and around the country.