Running with the Homeless
During her summer internship at “D Magazine” in Dallas, the Washington and Lee senior Kelsy McCraw, from Greenville, S.C., interviewed chefs and professional women bowlers, wrote about advertising and did a video with Dallas’ best children’s entertainer.
But maybe her most memorable assignment — and most compelling story — was one that she did on the run. Literally.
Kelsy, a journalism major who played soccer for the Generals, joined the Back on My Feet organization for a run and wound up running with the group for five weeks. Back on My Feet describes itself as “a nonprofit organization that promotes the self-sufficiency of homeless populations by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem.”
The piece that Kelsy wrote for “Frontburner,” a “D Magazine” blog, not only describes the organization but also offers an insightful profile into one of the participants.
Here is an excerpt:
“Tears well in her eyes as she tries to describe what the first few days in the shelter were like. She can’t verbalize those feelings, but the crumbling of her emotional stronghold shows just how scary the experience must have been. Right then, she proudly shows me her travel coffee mug that has a printed out picture of her pride-and-joys’ smiling faces on it. She wants a better life for them, but worries what they will think of their days in the shelter 10 years from now.”
Read Kelsy’s entire piece on Back on My Feet on the Frontburner blog.
