Program helps homeless find their footing

Last week, on a narrow street in Roxbury, in the city that hosts the world’s oldest annual marathon, Holden took what he hoped would be the next steps to a new life. Wearing baggy jogging shorts, he and a group of recovering addicts laced up their running shoes and headed out for a jog. This was no fun run. They were asked to be the first members of the new Boston chapter of Back on My Feet, a nationally recognized nonprofit that uses running to help the homeless rebuild their lives.

Today the organization will distribute running shoes to 30 men, from Hope House, Boston Rescue Mission, and St. Francis House, who are forming the Boston team. Tomorrow, the chapter will launch with an official run, followed by a breakfast at the Copley Marriott.

“When I heard about this, I was right on it,’’ said Holden, 34. “I like being part of a team and to not relapse, you’ve got to be part of a group.’’

Back on My Feet’s arrival to Boston ends a feud that erupted last year when a local runner tried to start a similar group, to help homeless veterans, only to be thwarted when the New England Center for Homeless Veterans worried he would divert fund-raising dollars from them. That man, Shannon Varney, will head up the Boston chapter of Back on My Feet, which has chapters in Philadelphia, Washington, and Baltimore and has trained 19 formerly homeless residents to finish marathons and recruited nearly 1,000 participants.

For Holden, and other members, it’s hard work. Participants must show up to 90 percent of the 5:45 a.m. training runs. If he stays committed and clean, Holden gets access to more than free sneakers: He could receive a stipend on a security deposit for an apartment and be hooked up with work.

The organization is the brainchild of Anne Mahlum, 29, a North Dakota native who founded it in Philadelphia in 2007. Now in Washington, she came to Boston on Thursday for the inaugural jog. The group stretched in the parking lot behind Hope House and ran down Hampden Street. Within 100 yards, the field spread. Some runners were comfortable, others started shuffling by the first cross street, slowing and gasping for breath.

“I’m disappointed I let myself go,’’ said Dana Faust, 34, who was dealing and using cocaine and heroin until recently and had moved into Hope House two days earlier. “This is motivation.’’

Mahlum, fit from running marathons, including Boston in 2007, paced the group early, then drifted back to help others. Later, she said she feels a connection with addicts because her father, Mark, had a gambling problem that broke up her family.

“That’s why she does this,’’ said Sonja Mahlum, her mother. “She does it because she wanted to help her dad and couldn’t help him.’’

Anne, who remains close to her father, said she shares his addictive personality.

“I’m never going to be balanced, I’m never going to be even-keeled,’’ she said. “I’ve channeled my addictive behavior into running and helping people.’’

Back on My Feet started when Mahlum, who studied at American University, was between jobs and would jog by a homeless shelter. After bantering with the men outside, she decided to get them running shoes and start a club.

These days, most of Back on My Feet’s $3.4 million budget covers expenses, including equipment, gear, and incentive programs to help members pay rent and get jobs. Mahlum earns $75,000 a year. She plans to expand to 10 more cities by the end of 2011.

Not every runner sticks with the program, but there are success stories.

Kevin Brown, 52, was a cocaine addict who bottomed out last summer when he woke up in a crack house covered in cockroaches. He landed in a shelter and heard about Back on My Feet. His first run he couldn’t get around the track once. Today, he’s training for a half marathon. He works driving a van and lives in an apartment.

“It builds endurance, character, and it keeps me in shape,’’ said Brown, who will speak at tomorrow’s Boston launch.

Mahlum decided to expand to Boston after reading a Globe story about Varney, a former Goldman Sachs analyst who, having lost his job, founded his organization last year. When the New England Center for Homeless Veterans opposed his effort, Mahlum hired Varney to lead her Boston chapter. At last week’s run, he was there, encouraging first-timers like Darren Killeen.

Born in Worcester, Killeen, 38, has been in and out of jail for years and was released after his latest arrest for drug dealing two weeks ago.

“My goal is to see how far I can get into this,’’ said Killeen. “Go back to school. I’m just replacing negative behavior with more positive ones.’’

A few minutes later, Mahlum called Killeen and the other Hope House guys into a circle.

“How many of you have run?’’ she asked.

Almost all the hands went up.

“How many have run, like, 5 miles?’’

Only three held up their hands. And then they were off.

Willie Lopez, wearing untied, red high-tops, fell behind. He wants to lose weight, quit smoking, and get in shape, but he’s got a ways to go. Near the end, Lopez, 52, who was living on the streets in Roxbury before coming to Hope House, found himself next to Mahlum, who encouraged him to finish.

“She was giving me hope,’’ he said afterward. “She said I could do it.’’

Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com.