Running Group Helps Homeless Get Back on Their Feet

WASHINGTON - While most of us are still sleeping, Walter Barrera is training for a marathon. Walter is a runner. He is also homeless. That's right.

Walter's running group meets outside a Northeast D.C. homeless shelter. Walter is a member of a group called Back on My Feet.

Drugs and alcohol cost Walter his job and the life he knew. He got a grip on his addiction. But that wasn't the only change he needed.

"High blood pressure. High cholesterol. All of those things. I just wanted a change for my life," says Walter.

Then he heard about Back on My Feet.

"We use running as a means to build strength, self confidence and self esteem, but the bigger picture is using running as a metaphor for the rest of your life. You take one step at a time, one mile at a time and you apply that for the rest of your life," says Gretchen Gates of Back on My Feet.

The organization supplies the shoes through a sponsorship with Pacers running stores. Barrera says at first, running was painful. Some of the runners live in shelters. Others are volunteers who provide encouragement.

"We like to keep a one to one ratio because one of our golden rules is that no one runs alone," says Gates.

Walter says "When I go out for a run, I feel that I find myself. I find my spirit. And the running is teaching me never to give up, even when I want to. If I just hold on one extra minute, that minute turns into an hour."

Walter is an example of someone who had never run before. He started with just a block. His longest run now - 27 miles.

Members who show up for 90 percent of those 5:45 am runs end up in a program called Next Steps. It's education and job training.

Walter is getting his GED and hopes to be a social worker one day.

"I'm very proud. This is the best gift that I could ever find," says Walter.

It's the gift of knowing to always keep moving forward - even when the finish line seems far away.

www.backonmyfeet.org/