In 2008, the 35-year-old native of Farmington, Minn., outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul, where Back on My Feet is launching a chapter next year, drove 9,000 miles across 48 U.S. states to promote better understanding of homeless populations, of which he was a part in 2001. A year later, on Dec. 18, 2009 Staffa says he found himself again living out of his car, after losing a job with Northwest Airlines and then having his home foreclosed, as told to the Huffington Post last year.

Now he has undertaken another cross-country road trip, this time visiting the capitals of all 48 continental U.S. states to help lobby for more attention to issues of a new class of homelessness in the United States, one affecting previously stable portions of working-class Americans due to extended unemployment.

He is currently in the Midwest, working his way toward the East Coast in early next year. Follow his travels on Twitter here. Below, we spoke to Staffa, 35, about his experiences.

Share with us your path to homelessness.

I was working as a baggage handler for Northwest Airlines when I lifted a bag and felt a pop in my side.  For 9 months it was a work comp.
Northwest had me seeing top Dr’s in Minnesota. who all agreed I could never lift more then 20 pounds the rest of my life.

Then one day the insurance company for Northwest said they wanted me to see a new Dr that they found.

He was a physical theripist in a strip mall.  His report came back a few weeks later and I was let go on the spot.   His conclusion was
“He is fat, it must be his fault for getting hurt. therefore the company is not at fault.”    They let me go on the spot because the
job required me to lift 75 pounds.   I went to the union and they said they did not get involved in medical issues.

I got a lawyer and it took it a year before the case was heard.   The judge ripped Northwest Airlines saying they lacked
logic and common sense.  She went on to say There was no Medical evidence offered other then “he’s fat”   She questioned
how I did the same job for 7 years with no issues yet the Stip Mall Dr viewed me as a ticking time bomb waiting to get hurt.

I got a job back within NWA but even though my contract and NWA’s own policy said otherwise my new job came with a $1000 a month pay cut and loss of seniority.  The Unions reply was to be thankful I had a job in this market.

Within a month or two after winning my case I was told they were cutting the department by 1.  Since I last my seniority after getting hurt
I was the one.  A few days later I get a letter saying they do not have to pay disability while unemployed.

Out of work disabled I quickly fell behind on mortgage and last it all months later. …[My] family is also from the area, but we don’t talk, for almost the last 10 years [so there wasn't that support system].

Follow the path with this diagram here.

What should that mean to other Americans?

I’d say this: in 2006, I was making $20.20 a hour in a union job with the same company for six years at the time. One injury later, and I’m homeless. It can happen in a split second to anyone.

What do you hope to accomplish with your trip. What will be different when you’re done?

I’m not looking to change the world. I will change only a few lives.

The other night I met a homeless man in Oregon. We talked for a hour or two. One of the things I have been doing is handing out socks and shirts as well as McDonalds [hot chocolate]. This guy was a great guy. So I decided to give him my own sleeping bag. I had an Arctic sleeping bag that I used when it got cold, but I had my car, I could always turn the car on. He was on the streets.

I did not tweet about it. There was no media. It was just him and me.  I figured I would figure something out by the time I got back to Minnesota.

The next morning, he tweeted to all of his followers something like: “Last night it snowed 4 inches on me, but I slept right throughit because
before it snowed @staffaroadtrip gave me his winter sleepbag. God bless.”

I am not going to change the world. but I changed it for him.  My homelessness can change if people like my Union stepped up.  They won’t. It’s not hard to step up and make a differance. I may be homeless, but there are still people I can help. My trip, which I fully funded, was worth it
when I changed how a homeless man sleeps at night.

Can you talk a little bit about how homelessness affects you, both in practical application and emotional feeling?

I don’t really let homelessness define who I am. Physically, it takes a toll because eating is tough. You can’t buy a bag of apples and have it last.  So there is a lot of $1 menu stuff. It’s tough emotionally, as Thanksgiving, Christmas and my birthday all fall close together making it depressing. Plus I lost my house the week before Christmas and two weeks before my birthday.

What are you finding at these state capitals?

The capitals are more of a connect the dots. I am trying to meet homeless [people] in each state as well as a shelter or homeless group in each state. I have found that while homelessness does not know state lines, homeless groups do. You don’t hear about a homeless group from Minnesota bouncing ideas off of homeless groups in North Dakota.

Why not?  Why aren’t states talking more? Helena, Montana is the best area I have seen [for homelessness], and Carson City, Nevada being the worst: why dont they talk?

What is your timeline for arrival at other state capitals?

My original timeline was to do the whole trip in just over three weeks. I had sold several belongings for gas and sleeping out of the car wouldn’t make three weeks versus four weeks a big change in budget.

Most of the places I have been going have been referred to me as I get closer to that area. So usually I have a two to three day notice of where I am going.  So I am not at, say, the Dover, Del. planning yet.

Nov. 14-20 is National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week. As part of our effort to continue to further the dialogue around homelessness, this week we are hosting Personal Reflections on Homelessness here on the Back on My Feet blog.

For this series, we have asked one BOMF member in each city to reflect on their experience of homelessness.

Below, we speak to Jerel, a Chicago REST team member.

How would you describe the experience of being homeless in Chicago?

After the initial shock of being homeless finally sunk in, I knew I had to rely on other means to live. As a result of being homeless in a city, like Chicago, with endless opportunities, I quickly learned that only if you’re willing to help yourself then are people willing to help you get re-established.

What were people’s personalities like?

Although there are many conflicting personalities everywhere you go in life, I was actually surprised by the response of other homeless people such as myself willing to help me get settled in.

What was the impact of coming into contact with Back on My Feet?

The personal impact that BOMF has instilled in me was reminding me, through running, that I had goals in my life worth achieving and that I must do anything and everything to attain those goals.

My favorite part is not the running — contrary to popular belief — but it’s the side effects of running, such as meeting cool people whose dedication meet or exceeds yours, stress release or outlet, feeling a sense of accomplishment, also an increase self motivation to conquer things I normally wouldn’t.

Gael Henville leading the Boston chapter's inaugural run on May 24, 2010. Photo by John Deputy.

The team leader of the Boston chapter’s New England Center for Homeless Veterans, Gael Henville, bravely spoke to those in attendance at last month’s first Orientation 2.0

Henville, now 41, was homeless for seven months due to finally leaving an abusive relationship, having “sought self-validation” through an addiction to abuse from age 19 to 35.

Beaten while pregnant, hospital staff sent Henville to a women’s shelter to protect her from her abusive partner. It has taken her a half decade “to become happy with my life,” she said. Back in May, she first shared with us her love for Back on My Feet.

At Boston’s first Orientation 2.0, a forum to engage the community on the challenges and solutions of homelessness, Henville shared more of her story.

Nov. 14-20 is National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week. As part of our effort to continue to further the dialogue around homelessness, this week we are hosting Personal Reflections on Homelessness here on the Back on My Feet blog.

For this series, we have asked one BOMF member in each city to reflect on their experience of homelessness.

Ed Jenkins – Washington D.C. Clean and Sober Streets team

Ed Jenkins is a member of the DC team at Clean and Sober Streets.  Ed has been a member of BOMF for more than six months and is the closest embodiment of a teddy bear you will meet.

His story is less soft.

After relapsing for a 4^th time, Ed checked himself into a recovery center in D.C. earlier this year and was placed at CSS.  Seizing the moment, he has flourished running several races since joining Back on My Feet (including a half marathon), becoming Team Captain and most recently graduating from Byte Back Computer Training.  He is currently actively job searching.

Ed has become a leader, source of welcome and inspiration. Though his build may suggest otherwise, he playfully goes by the nickname Kip after famous Olympic runner Kip Keino.

Below, read a short interview with Ed about homelessness and see an NBC interview with him.

How would you describe the experience of being homeless in DC?

“It’s a dark time, you feel hopeless, like the whole world is on your shoulders, you’re isolated – alone. I didn’t think anyone cared about me, you think that since nobody cares, you just keep doing what you’re doing – you try to escape reality.

It’s literally cold, you just want to do what you need to in order to stay warm sometimes.

Before I came to Clean and Sober Streets, I was homeless for seven months.  I wasn’t ready for help, I kept chasing a euphoria from drugs that I couldn’t get, it drove me farther away.

What were people’s personalities like?

“Some people are OK being homeless, but I wasn’t. I became homeless because of my drug use.  I lived to use, used to live, it was all that mattered to me.  But when I finally hit bottom, I knew I needed help and fortunately there were people there who could help me.”

I was grateful there were people out there and opportunities.

What was the impact of coming into contact with Back on My Feet?

“When I heard about BOMF the first time, I thought ‘maybe’, then I said if I commit to this, I need to complete it, I need to finish this out.”

I wanted to give it 100 percent. It was a commitment to myself as much as the team.

“This time around, my recovery is different, I can now see that when I help other people, I am helping myself, its about community.  I’m more open-minded now, more positive and I can give people the benefit of the doubt – I couldn’t do that before.  Being around a positive team was a big part of that happening”.

“I know that I have to stay strong for the next guy who will be in my shoes, I do it for me and for him.”

Back in September, NBC Washington followed the Clean and Sober Streets team, including a few conversations with Ed Jenkins. Watch it below.

Find others in this series here.

Eric Fair in the Back on My Feet Philadelphia offices. Photo by Lauren F. Friedman.

Freelance journalist Lauren F. Friedman put together an important profile of Philadelphia St. John’s team member Eric Fair for the website of popular innovation magazine GOOD.

In the early hours of a recent Saturday morning, Eric Fair begins his 15-mile training run. A still-dark path that winds along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia takes him further and further from his starting point on Race Street: Saint John’s Hospice, the homeless shelter where he lives.

Fair has been on and off of drugs and in and out of rehab, but now he runs with a goal in mind: the Philadelphia Marathon, his first.

“I think a lot about my past,” Fair says. “But that’s the most peaceful time that I have, when I’m running. I’m in another world.”

Fair began running last year with Back on My Feet, a nonprofit that uses regularly-scheduled team runs in five different cities to help homeless participants work toward self-sufficiency. Today, when Fair makes his final push down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, he will be one of more than 450 Back on My Feet members who have completed a race since the organization’s founding in Philadelphia in 2007. MORE

Read the rest of the piece here.

Every Friday, the Back on My Feet blog will feature a roundup of timely, prominent homelessness news, issues, concepts and trends from across the country and world. Subscribe to content regarding homelessness by way of either an RSS feed or e-mail blast.

• This week, Nov. 14-20, is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week — We have been sharing Personal Reflections on Homelessness, which you can see here.

DEFINITE READS

• For homeless, too, a daily commute in rush-hour traffic [Washington Post] — A city-operated free bus service shuttles people experiencing homelessness around D.C. to various services.
• More cities offer homeless free storage to ease mobility [USA Today] — Some cities, including Chicago, home to one of our five chapters, are developing services to give people experiencing homelessness locations for short-term storage of personal possessions. A homeless man from D.C. leads the story.
• Homeless man creates awareness with trip [Bismarck Tribune] — “Greg Staffa, 35, of Farmington, Minn., said he represents the new breed of homelessness — those who use social networking, but whose newer cars have replaced their foreclosed homes.”
• (Edmonton) Homelessness drops for first time in years [Canada.com] — No word on what caused the smaller count, which is interesting because the opposing trend, of course, is happening throughout the United States, from Tempe to North Dakota to Oahu to Brooklyn.
• Survey Finds Whole Families in Homeless Shelters [Hartford Advocate] — Counts in Hartford, Conn. show a growing number of full families in facilities.

OF INTEREST

• Convicted ex-Commissioner Koons honored for years of helping homeless [Palm Beach Post] — A County Commissioner recently conviced of extortion charges is celebrated for his work with the area’s homeless population.
• Reno to Order Homeless Squatters Off Streets [Kolo] — Lying on a sidewalk in downtown Reno has long been a misdemeanor crime, its enforcement and boundaries are being expanded.
• Plan to Jail Homeless Helpers Scrapped in Oakland Park [NBC Miami] — “City ordinance would have cracked down on giving to panhandlers”
• Homeless to get free services in East Palo Alto [San Mateo County Times] — This California community, like others across the country, brings together various agencies and nonprofits to offer mental and physical health screenings for people experiencing homelessness. It’s also happening around Cincinnati.

GIVE A GLANCE

• Thousands of children in state are homeless [WLBT] — 12,000 children are homeless in Mississippi. Find a profile of homeless teens in Anchorage. There’s another homeless census happening in a Colorado community.
• With Many Listening, Homeless Teens Lay Out Their Struggle [Kitsap Sun] — This Washington State community too is seeing a rise in teen homelessness. There are an estimated 25,000 from K-12 in the state.
• Homeless asked to leave strip of White Slough [Times-Herald] — A California tent city is cleared by authorities
• Lives of the homeless: Their stories told with photos [MinnPost] — Photos of some of Minnesota’s 13,100 homeless.
• The Fight To End Chronic Homelessness In SD Continues [KPBS] They have launched a 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness.
• We’re winning homeless fight [Chelmsford Weekly News] — The U.K. community has reduced homelessness applications by working to stop people from losing housing and housing those who have. There is concern around growth of young homeless.
• If you can’t eliminate homelessness… [Hartford Courant blog] — A criticism of efforts there to push homelessness, not solve the issue.

A Thanksgiving ministry meal for the homeless in Knoxville, which you can watch below.

Find past roundups of homelessness news here.

Our Founder and President Anne Mahlum wrote an op-ed for CNN.com:

Three and a half years ago, I ran a mile with nine men who were living at the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission in Philadelphia,. Wanting to start a running club at this homeless shelter came from passing this facility on my morning run and seeing a group of men congregating outside on the corner.

I was quickly drawn to them as they reminded me a lot of my dad, who I love dearly but unfortunately has suffered from addiction to drugs, alcohol and gambling for much of his life.

My dad and I have always had a very special, sarcastic rapport and one of the hardest things I have gone through was being a teenager and not being able to figure out a way to save my dad from his gambling addiction, which ended up tearing apart our family. MORE

Read the rest here.

A Boston member during the chapter's inaugural run March 24, 2010. Photo by John Deputy.

Nov. 14-20 is National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week. As part of our effort to continue to further the dialogue around homelessness, this week we are hosting Personal Reflections on Homelessness here on the Back on My Feet blog.

For this series, we have asked one BOMF member in each city to reflect on their experience of homelessness.

Jackie Kenyon – Boston St. Francis

Jacqueline Kenyon is a case manager for the women’s re-entry program at Boston Rescue Mission, a hairdresser for the past 23 years who now does so for the elderly, and Team Captain of the St. Francis House  Back on My Feet Team in Boston.

She was honored earlier this month as Boston’s Chapter Member of the Month for October 2010. Watch her talk about her background here and below read about her experiences with homelessness and Back on My Feet.

How would you describe the experience of being homeless in Boston?

“Homelessness for me here in Boston was actually very scary.

I was new to the area and coming from the small city of Concord NH, was very naive to the “street life and its mentality”.  I soon found out an area to hang out because it was convenient to feed my drug use. Well to be honest I was one of the few white women out here as well. Homelessness knows no racial divide! Many times the police would stop and run my name and try to talk some sense to me. I wasn’t hearing it. I was making my choices and believe me I am a very lucky women to have lived through experience. Drug dealers were on every corner, people robbing people and people knifed down and shot.

The city of Boston is not a picnic in the park to be homeless. I very rarely stayed in the shelters because of my choice to get high versus get sleep. Most shelters have curfews and times in which you must check in.

Then I did get involved with St Francis House. Floors 7-10 are sober housing units and we work and pay rent! This is a permanent housing program. We come and go like normal people do in their homes. So it is basically just a single occupancy residents with the condition you stay sober.

What was the impact of coming into contact with Back on My Feet?

BOMF was presented to me really after I had already broken the cycles and patterns in my life. I had been running for a couple years and then did Boston Marathon.

When I met Vic he had asked if I thought BOMF could help me. The way I saw it if nothing else was joining something for a great cause. I too am and was a part of the cause. So to be honest it humbled me to go back into what seemed to be the start of my recovery process. At first I wanted NO part of the publicity stuff. I had been the center of attention at St. Francis House after graduating the MAP program they asked me to be in the video/brochure to me it was humbling.

So what I can say is that BOMF motivates people to get involved and shows that people do care. That there is hope and above all to teach accountability, learning some self esteem, social skills.

Being in BOMF was never about even the stipend (Grant) so much. It was about one person helping another lead by example and show life is great sober. So in respects to BOMF, I cannot say enough good things about it, the entire staff, volunteers and us residents.

As Vice President of Programming Wylie Belasik speaks at the inaugural Chicago chapter run, Philadelphia member Kenny Herder waits on.

Nov. 14-20 is National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week. As part of our effort to continue to further the dialogue around homelessness, this week we are hosting Personal Reflections on Homelessness here on the Back on My Feet blog.

For this series, we have asked one BOMF member in each city to reflect on their experience of homelessness.

Kenny Herder – Philadelphia Ridge Team

Kenny’s story is a remarkable one.

When Kenny joined BOMF in September of 2008, he was still struggling with his bi-polar disorder and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. However, instead of turning inward, Kenny grew outward.

Though his journey hasn’t been without bumps, he now lives independently with his brother and has been employed for more than a year without missing a day of work. Kenny remains active in the BOMF program and recently spoke at the launch of the Chicago chapter.

Below, we speak to Kenny about homelessness, Back on My Feet and feature a video interview with him about his journey.

How would you describe the experience of being homeless in Philadelphia?

“Imagine your house, now open it up to 40 people you don’t know to move in, people who are up all hours of the night, some depressed, some high, nobody trusting – that’s what it felt like.

When I came in, it was me against the world, I wanted to blame everyone but myself, but my family said enough was enough and I had to sort myself out, I was angry, sad and depressed all at once.

The first night, I couldn’t sleep. You are in a controlled environment, where you are surrounded, but isolated all at once, its hard.”

What were people’s personalities like?

“There are some people who feel that being homeless is alright, they stay in denial and pretend. I knew I wanted better and seeing that mentality inspired me to get out of there and not go down that road.

Nobody wants to be homeless, but when those circumstances happen, I was grateful that the shelter was there as bad as it was. Not everyone is bad, the staff do what they can, but it can be difficult.

I don’t want to say that everyone in a shelter is bad, that the staff is bad, and so on. If Ridge wasn’t there, I would have had nowhere to go.

What was the impact of coming into contact with Back on My Feet?

“When you’re in that position (in shelter), it’s tough to get back up, the program was a hand up, not a hand-out.

It gave me hope and opportunity in the face of despair, I was recognized as a person and my success was based off what I earned, I got back into the race for my own life.

Kenny shared a bit about his journey with Back on My Feet and feelings about its importance on video. Watch it below.

Every Friday, the Back on My Feet blog will feature a roundup of timely, prominent homelessness news, issues, concepts and trends from across the country and world. Subscribe to content regarding homelessness by way of either an RSS feed or e-mail blast.

• Next week, Nov. 14-20, is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week
• Homeless Veterans: Stand Down [60 Minutes] — The CBS news magazine featured the annual summer confab of U.S. veterans experiencing homelessness in San Diego. Watch it here.
• Alabama’s sex offender notification law can’t apply to homeless, state appeals court rules [Associated Press via AL.com] — In Montgomery, Alabama, “a state appeals court ruled today that an Alabama law requiring sex offenders to give an address where they will be living before getting out of prison can’t be applied to a homeless inmate with no money.”
• Victoria mayor defends his record on helping homeless after house, car vandalized [The Globe and Mail] — Victoria, Canada Mayor Dean Fortin had his house and car vandalized alleging his policies were anti-poverty.

Below, events for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week and more.

• Project Homeless Connect: People helping people [Porterville Recorder] — This California community hosts annual ‘Project Homeless Connect’ to grow awareness and offer an array of additional services to homeless.
• Events planned to help the homeless and hungry [The Reporter] — Two Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week events will be hosted in Lansdale, Pa., outside Philadelphia.
• Plight of the homeless brought into focus [ABC 12] — Flint, Michigan efforts around homelessness awareness week.
• Event gives students a taste of homeless life [Trib Local] — Church and student groups in Dupage County near Chicago are hosting a Sleep Out Saturday in attempt to suss out a feeling of homelessness from a night sleeping outside.