by Talia Avakian

On a warm Saturday morning, a group of men and women gather in Central Park to go for a run. There are crowds of joggers hitting the pavement that day, but one thing sets this group of runners apart. Most of these men and women are homeless, and they aren’t just running for the exercise. For them, running is their way out of homelessness.

These runners are members of Back on My Feet, a non-profit that uses running to helping homeless transition into employment and independent living. Working with shelters across 11 states, including New York, Back on My Feet volunteers run with homeless every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday in the city.

“There’s a lot of competitive and fun running teams in New York, but this one has an added element of outreach that just hooks you,” said Jean Hartig, Back on My Feet’s Director of Communications. Hartig has been with Back on My Feet’s New York chapter since it started two years ago.

BACK ON MY FEET from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

Originally launched in Philadelphia, Back on My Feet began when founder Anne Mahlum, who would run by a local shelter every morning, realized she wanted to communicate and help homeless in the shelter instead of passing them by every morning, said Jean. For this reason, Mahlum pushed to get a non-profit started that would allow her to continue running like she did every morning, but to turn the activity into one that benefits homeless as well.
Jerry Rahming, 60 from East Harlem, has been with the program’s New York chapter since its start. Rahming was homeless and living in a shelter when he was introduced to Back on My Feet during an orientation meeting the program held at the shelter. Rahming said he had always been active until he became homeless, and so he thought the program might be a good way to start exercising again.

But once he started, he realized the benefits were more than just physical, he said. Running also helped him to build endurance, discipline, and motivation-skills that are crucial to changing your life.

“I equate it with the jungle, because animals are always running,” he said. “It’s about running to stay on your feet until you either survive through catching prey or by not being caught by predators and so I equate what you need for running-the endurance and the motivation-in a very real sense with how I look at my life now.”

Rahming also participated in last year’s New York City Marathon and the experience has given him a newfound confidence.

“I completed it at 60-years-old and I realized that if I can do that, there are other things I can do as well,” said Rahming.

Paul Persichetti, 40, of the Upper East Side. Persichetti had never been active before he joined Back on My Feet in February. He weighed 290 pounds and was homesless but by running, he has been able to improve both his physical and emotional wellbeing.

“This has been a great way for me to become active, to keep the weight off, and to finally be happy,” Persichetti said.

And these health benefits have been crucial to helping Persichetti, who is currently back in school, stay focused.

“We get up early, and it gives me so much more energy to be able to go to school and get through the day,” Persichetti said.

Since starting at Back on My Feet, Persichetti, who never ran, has already run a total of 80 miles in three months, and he plans to run in this year’s New York City Marathon.

So far, the organization has served 200 residential members who currently receiving housing through the program and since launching, 74 of these members are now employed and 72 have moved into independent living.

For Hartig, Back on My Feet provides a refreshing change from the typical shelters and transitional housing programs meant to assist homeless.

“Being able to create a community outside of the normal realm of thinking of shelters and programs is really helpful for some of our members who have been living in rigid institutional margins for more than 60 years,” said Hartig. “To be able to have an activity that allows them to get a little goofy is a huge value ad for our members, and it’s addictive to see how supportive these men and women are to each other.”

This has been the case for Rahming, who said that the program has helped him open up to people for the first time in years.

“Before I joined, I was more of a recluse, but Back on My Feet has pulled me away from myself and brought me in contact with others,” said Rahming. “It’s made me feel that I can rely and trust in people again.”

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Talia Avakian’s multimedia story of how one man used his imagination and what we throw away to survive living on the streets here.

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A Styrofoam container of hot soup, a loaf of bread, an orange, and a carton of milk may not seem like much of meal, but for the increasing number of homeless people living in New York’s streets, these meals provided by the Coalition of the Homeless’ Grand Central Food Program is often their only meal of the day.

New York City’s homeless population continues to increase in 2014, and with this year’s harsh winter overpopulating many of the available shelters, more and more homeless people are forced to live on the streets.

“Most of the individuals we serve work, but can’t afford housing,” said Farnell Williams, who has been volunteering for the non-profit program for the last 20 years. “And when they have five or six children and shelters won’t accept or only take in a certain number, they don’t want to be separated from their kids and so they’re left out on the street.”

Williams, 42, of White Plains, West Chester, has witnessed the increasing numbers during his many years with the program.

Farnell Williams, a 20 year volunteer, drives the uptown van in addition to distributing food and coats. Photo by: Talia Avakian

“The numbers of people we serve out on the streets have increased, and it’s unfortunate that in this completely wealthy city, we have this many homeless people,” said Williams.

In order to estimate the number of homeless individuals who live on the streets, the Department of Homeless Security conducts a yearly Homeless Outreach Population Estimate, or HOPE, with volunteers searching the city’s streets, subways, and parks to locate those who permanently live in these areas.

The numbers are used to allocate resources like shelters, outreach assistance, and drop-in centers throughout neighborhoods. However, restrictions the department must place during HOPE can leave a number of individuals out on the street overlooked.

“We don’t go into private businesses, residences, or buildings,” said department worker, Tonie Baez. “Particularly on a night where it’s very cold, you’ll see that there are large group of people inside these places that may be homeless and are going inside to keep warm.”

Volunteer safety is a crucial concern for HOPE, leaving dark alleys or areas that feel unsafe unchartered territory.

“It’s likely that volunteers aren’t finding individuals in more secluded locations because we don’t encourage them to go into anywhere that’s dangerous,” Baez said.

For the coalition’s program assistant, Bryan Moran, having neighborhoods where outreach is limited makes getting food to these areas crucial.

“We visit stops like South Ferry with people sleeping in the Staten Island ferry terminal, and we don’t see a lot of community outreach, soup kitchens, or mobile soup programs out there,” said Moran. “I mean even in the Upper West Side, a neighborhood known for it’s wealth, there’s still a lot of food insecurity in the neighborhood.”

The Grand Central Food Program delivers meals including an orange, a loaf of bread, a carton of milk, and hot soup. Photo by: Talia Avakian

“I don’t consider going out in these conditions crazy, because with the people we’re feeding, they’re in crazy situations,” said Farnell. “We’ll go home to a warm home, but these people are still out on the streets.

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Veteran Penelope McClenan, 50 of Saint Albans, Queens, founded the non-profit, Women’s Veteran Network, dedicated to assisting female veterans. Photo by: Talia Avakian

Penelope McClenan had a five-bedroom home when she left for Army deployment in Afghanistan. When she returned five months later it was gone.

McClenan, 50, of Saint Albans, Queens, suffered a head injury while on active duty. She transferred to a reserve unit as a chaplain assistant and finally to a transporter New Jersey unit, but when she suffered migraines related to her prior head injury, speculations by the unit eventually led to McClenan being demoted and a “drastic” drop in pay.

Paying her mortgage became a struggle and her home was put on foreclosure. At the same time, McClenan needed surgery related to her injuries that caused her to miss court dates, and her unit did not send in the paperwork confirming her prior deployment, which only lengthened the court process.

After several months, she was able to get authority to sell the house. McClenan sold the house to catch up to finances, but now she needed to find housing for herself and her son.

For single parents like McClenan, finding help to prevent homelessness is increasingly difficult. Of all of the Veteran Administration programs established to assist homeless veterans, more than 60 percent do not accept children, and many that do place age and number restrictions.

In 2010, more than 30,000 single mothers were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and as of 2006, more than 40% of active duty women have children, making single mothers a large segment of female veterans.

At the time, McClenan turned to her mother for temporary housing in Hollis, Queens, until she was told there was aid to assist her in transitional housing. However, this did not make the transition process easier for the single mother. A year later, unstable rent prices left McClenan battling eviction charges yet again.

McClenan expresses emotional grief to having known female veterans who committed suicide due to the difficulties of finding and maintain housing. Photo by Talia Avakian

Experiencing the lack of proper services available for female veterans led McClenan to creating the Women’s Veteran Network, a non-profit dedicated to helping women in the situation she was in. She got in touch with female veterans she had met at the Manhattan and Brooklyn VA. The women in the network pitched in to finance the program’s events. McClenan also connected with the Wounded Warrior Projects, who assisted with outreach and executing larger-scale projects. With the assistance of the women in the network, McClenan is currently in the process of opening an all-female veteran shelter that openly accepts children in Long Island.

According to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, a female veteran is four times more likely as her civilian counterpart to experience homeless. According to the council, gender-specific organizations like the Women’s Veteran Network, which are not supported by the government, are crucial to helping women find stability in a safe environment.

Carol Anne Matuszewski, a Vietnam Air Force veteran, found solace in the network after facing homelessness.
Matuszewski, 63, of Bay Ridge Brooklyn, joined in 1968, believing the military would offer a solution to the limited career opportunities available to women at the time. When she returned from deployment, she discovered that her status as a woman veteran only increased the difficulty of finding both employment and housing.

Vietnam was a war that males were drafted into, and because female veterans had the choice to enter, potential employers sometimes condemned them for making that decision.

Matuszewski’s struggle to find a job left her homeless, but it was not only unemployment that led to her fate.

Many female veterans still do not identify themselves as veterans, remaining unaware of or feeling unqualified for veteran facilitation programs. This was the case for Matuszewski.

Matuszewski turned to Veterans Affairs for medical aid when she began battling cancer, and found the Women’s Veteran Network.

Vietnam air force veteran, Carol Ann Matuszewski, 63 of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, had difficulty identifying herself as a veteran when she returned from deployment. Photo by Talia Avakian

Having a program that catered to women who understand one another’s struggles allowed Matuszewski to, for the first time, feel comfortable being “open” with others and to receive help for the struggles she has faced as a female veteran.

The Long Island facility is still in the process of completion, but getting women to feel comfortable with the shelter will be the main obstacle.

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After falling from a three-story building and breaking his back, Tony Cohen, 49 of East Village, was told he would never walk again. To challenge himself, Cohen decided to break the Guinness World Record of the most marathons done in one day-26.2-on a treadmill. His personal goal intrigued others, leading him to turn his challenge into an event. He is teaming up with Team in Training of The Leukemia and Lymphoma society to raise money for an issue that rings close to his heart.

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Bay Ridge Brooklyn’s The Third Rail Classic Rock Band from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

Marathon runners passing the 4th avenue and 88th Street corner in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn threw up rock-out symbols, air guitars, and even stopped to dance to the ripping tunes of rock-and-roll street band, The Third Rail.

The four Bay Ridge locals of The Third Rail have become friendly faces to locals and marathon runners alike, now playing for the third year in the New York City Marathon, with 4th avenue and 88th Street becoming their official stomping grounds.

Guitarist Matt Daus, 45, put on an “electrified” show, slinging his guitar behind his head to jam out the chords of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, and pay homage to the Bay Ridge music community he calls home.

“We have a lot of local people we know and they know us back from playing in the 80’s and 90’s to playing The Third Avenue festival every year,” said Daus, “Bay Ridge is one of the last true communities in the city of New York.”

Drummer Derek Rushton, 44, threw his drum sticks into the air in between bashing his drum set to Led Zeppelin, hoping his co-workers running in the marathon caught his beats.

Named after the third rail in the subway, the band has been playing for 25 years. Starting as a home band in the basement of guitarist and bass players Matt and Paul Daus, the band began opening for Brooklyn rock bands in the 80’s and 90’s. Of all the arenas they’ve performed, the New York City Marathon is the most captivating.

Paul Daus, 42, feeds off the energy of the Bay Ridge marathon audience, which he said has made playing music after 25 years worthwhile.

“When the audience gets involved, you get an adrenaline kick,” said Paul Daus, “That’s the exciting part about it, when you have somebody coming and saying ‘wow you sound really good’ it makes you feel good, and all the time you spend rehearsing or in your room playing guitar for hours on end actually pays off.”

For Matt Daus and lead singer Rob Delcastillo, 47, the combination of the audience interaction and the event itself is an invigorating experience.

“Here you’re one with the people and you’re part of a bigger event, an ancillary part of it where as when you’re on stage, everybody is looking at you as the event,” said Matt Daus.

The Third Rail guitarist Matt Daus of Bay Ridge, plays with high intensity at the New York marathon. Photo by Talia Avakian

The audience is just as much a part of the band as the members themselves.

“We have an open door policy,” said Delcastillo. “Anybody who wants to come and be part of the show, it’s more than fine.”

The lively interaction goes both ways. With wireless capabilities, the band members sailed into the marathon crowd and got spectators to sing on the microphone.

Third Rail Singer, Rob DelCastillio high fives marathon runners while belting a song in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. Photo by Talia Avakian

While tighter security measures this year meant ropes guarding the band off, that did not stop them from getting up close with runners and onlookers alike, jutting their hands out to high-five runners and drawing their legs over the ropes to rip guitar shreds as close as possible to the action.

The band’s continuous involvement in the marathon was due to Matt Daus’ involvement in running two marathons, one in 1996 and the other in 2011.

“I saw the bands playing there and said, ‘we’ve got to do this one day,” said Daus.

For DelCastillo and Paul Daus, running the marathon was always a goal.

Bay Ridge rock band The Third Rail’s band members Paul Daus, 42, Rob Delcastillo, 47, Matt Daus, 45, and Derek Rushton, 44. Photo by Talia Avakian

“I was very much into running when I was younger and it’s always something I wanted to do but never got the chance,” said Daus. “Now my knees are shot and I don’t think I can.”

While bad knees made participating in the event difficult, the band members paved their own way into the event, showing that no matter the age, you can still rock out.

“I was cursed to have the knees of a 90 year old man afflicted with arthritis, but I’m lucky and blessed to have the lungs of an athlete,” said Delcastillo. He gripped the microphone before getting back to belting Freddie Mercury’s “Another One Bites the Dust”.

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Yves Muya from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

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Nelson Quinones, 53, who currently resides in a Hunts Point veteran shelter in the Bronx, finds hope in the Save a Suit “One Million Dollar Pledge for Veterans”. Photo by: Talia Avakian

In 1980 veteran, Nelson Quinones, was rushing to get to the car repair company where he worked when he was hit in a head-on collision that left him with a cracked skull and a broken leg. His two-month recovery in the hospital cost him his job and he needed to turn to veteran programs to help him get back to work.

Quinones, 53 a native of Puerto Rico, spent the next 33 years at four different veteran programs hoping to get the skills he needed to get back to working, but nothing worked. He is still jobless.

For homeless veterans like Quinones, receiving the basic training skills needed to get a job has been hard, but a new program, Save a Suit, which offers veterans suits and job training, may provide hope.

“When I look at the programs I’ve been in, I don’t see help and I don’t see change” said Quinones. “Today is the first time I see a program that could give us the training we really need.”

Hosting its “One Million Dollar Pledge for Veterans” job fair yesterday afternoon at Citi Field in Flushing, Queens, the program provided one million dollars in suits, but what the program provided for the 600 attending veterans was more than just clothes.

In addition to employers seeking workers, there were workshops on leadership building, social networking, marketing, and how to land a job, the program’s aim was to “provide veterans with the confidence needed to become proactive in interviewing with employers,” said executive director Jessica Ewud.

“Many of the programs still train veterans to do what they are told in a yes, no, fashion, a real problem when attempting to aid veterans transition from the military world to the civilian,” said Ewud.

This was the case with the programs Quinones participated in. Quinones turned to a veteran facilitation program in Hunt Point, Bronx, where he currently resides, in hopes of gaining the tools needed to get back to working. Instead, the program only kept him further “stuck.”

Quinones wears the wristbands of the veteran facilitation programs he has participated in. Photo by Talia Avakian

The big problem for Quinones was the way the program functions.

“If you say something to the faculty regarding changes you want to see, they try to punish you,” Quinones said. “Half the time, when we try to talk to the staff, they cut us off. I couldn’t finish in a program like this.”

Not only was the environment of concern for Quinones, but also the lack of what was provided.

“As a program, they are supposed to help us get our place, to get an education, but they don’t focus on teaching the most basic skills like using a computer,” he said.

For Ewud, confidence achieved through focusing on basic skills is the key.

“You can tell from the faces of most of the people who walk in that they are upset,” said Ewud. “What we aim to do is to provide them with the training to give them a newfound confidence.”

This was the case for 55-year-old veteran, Mark ManFredi.

Having served in the US army for two years, ManFredi faced difficulty finding a job when he came home.

“When we returned we weren’t looked at favorably,” ManFredi said. “If you wanted a job, all you could find were the low paying ones, but they didn’t have services like this one today.”

ManFredi dedicated 17 years to assisting veterans at the Providence Heath Center in Rhode Island before moving to Hoboken, NJ. For ManFredi, programs like Save a Suit are crucial for future returning veterans.

“I felt my job skills were extremely limited back then,” ManFredi said. “Programs like this give you the confidence to utilize your background as a veteran, and get the job.”

A few feet away, Quinones sat with a newfound hope in the program’s mission.

“When you don’t feel good at these programs you leave, staying in the street most of the time,” said Quinones.

“Today’s program was one of the first times I’ve felt good in a long time,” Quinones continued as he wiped tears from his eyes.

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