Back On My Feet is launching in San Francisco this November

San Francisco is home to a very visible homeless population that continues to grow in numbers. It’s also home to a very active population of runners.

That’s the magic formula for Back On My Feet (BOMF), which uses running as a foundation to help homeless individuals obtain housing and jobs. Thanks to a push from the nonprofit’s national board and its roster of corporate partners, BOMF has announced it will scale programming to San Francisco this coming November.

“In terms of cities for our program to support, this was an obvious choice,” said CEO Katy Sherratt.

The timing couldn’t be better: Earlier this month, 30 Bay Area news organizations made a collective decision to flood the city with news about homelessness. The pressure is on for philanthropy to step up to the plate.

San Francisco will be BOMF’s 12th location since the nonprofit launched in Philadelphia in 2007. According to Sherratt, the nonprofit plans on scaling to one new city each year by 2020, with one of those cities expected to be international.

Other funding goals in the nonprofit’s newly-published strategic plan include bolstering corporate partnerships and piloting alternate revenue sources. Ramping up support from foundations will be vital: As of now, foundations only account for 11 percent of BOMF’s revenue. Individual donations make up 42 percent, with corporate partners responsible for 47.

But for now, the nonprofit is making impressive social impact and expanding quickly with the resources they have: Sixty-five percent of individuals who stay in the program for 90 days either obtain employment, education, housing or job training. Sherratt said BOMF wants that number to be closer to 80.

“We really want to increase that,” she said. “And we’ve got the opportunities to do that with the partnerships we have now.”

But it’s the economic impact of BOMF’s programming that might appeal most to new funders. According to the strategic plan, every $1.00 invested in the nonprofit yields a return of nearly $2.50 within three years.

Here’s what factored into that figure:

• Health. Sherratt said this is based on data surrounding how running three days a week cuts costs to medical services. Costs savings around drug and alcohol treatment is also considered here.
• Incarceration. This metric calculates the cost savings of reduced recidivism rates among BOMF members.
• Shelter. Sherratt said BOMF took a “conservative approach” to services and housing. The nonprofit provides financial aid to members. Considering BOMF is not government funded, those services cut shelter costs.
• Employment. Specifically, employment taxes paid by members who have obtained a job with BOMF’s employment partners.

Which cities are on BOMF’s radar? Sherratt mentioned Seattle, Portland and Houston. But the U.K. native seemed most excited for the international expansion.

“Hopefully it will be London, if I have my way, but it could be Canada,” she said. “A lot of people contact us from those countries asking how they can make it happen.”