"I saw her on ABC news and looked her up the next day," Ohnell recalled. "I was skeptical - I'm a runner, but pragmatic. I peppered her with a hundred questions. She had enough good answers, seemed very rational and orderly, beyond being enthusiastic. I sent her $15,000 on the spot."
Through his family foundation, Ohnell has contributed more than $80,000 to BOMF.
Another skeptic-turned-believer is former City Controller Jonathan A. Saidel, who sits on the board Mahlum created for BOMF.
"From the world I have been in, you always figure somebody has an angle," he said. "But when you listen to her talking about the men and women she helps, and when you see the interplay between the runners and her, there is no way there is any ulterior motive for her."
But Mahlum is more than image and compassion. She is organized, demanding and doggedly dedicated.
She has created an intensive six- to nine-month running program that balances incentives with expectations to steer the homeless to self-sufficiency. The program says 44 clients have found jobs, 31 have housing, and 29 are in training programs or school.
Results and progress are meticulously tracked on a monthly basis.
The work is funded, in part, by corporate sponsors and donations from individuals and foundations. The group raised $769,395 last year, including in-kind donations. It has raised $627,600 this year, almost half its budget. About 40 percent of the budget goes to salaries, rent and office expenses. Another big chunk is client costs, which include running shoes, shorts, shirts, mileage incentives and $1,250 stipends for those who succeed at certain goals. In all, about $2,000 a year is budgeted for each client.
Mahlum is paid $65,000 as BOMF president. She routinely puts in 14-hour days and expects much of her staff of 10, all runners and all but one in their 20s.
"We treat this as a business. People are usually here by 8 and don't leave until 7 or 7:30," she said during an interview at BOMF's spartan offices at 1520 Locust St. "But that's partly because they want to be here. They are working on fun stuff. They know they are part of building something."
In a separate interview, Wylie Belasik, BOMF's program coordinator, raised the same point.
"I consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity to create and shape something like this and to work with someone with Anne's leadership skills," he said. "It is her drive, her tenacity, her uncompromising vision that people gravitate to."
A part of her vision is a workplace that, while demanding, is flexible and egalitarian.
"I think everyone feels like no one is above or below anyone here," she said. "We don't tolerate that kind of attitude here. Am I the boss? Sure, but people have opinions and ideas that should be valued. . . .
"Am I a tough boss? Yeah, I expect a lot. I expect results. I expect improvement."
Her goal now is to grow Back on My Feet. She envisions 15 to 20 chapters nationwide within five years.
Along the way, she expects to push her own boundaries. Like the tiny diamond stud she added to her right nostril last weekend.
"I had wanted to get it done but was holding off," she said. She was worried how potential donors might perceive it.
Then she remembered her father's advice one winter's day years ago when the family crashed a hotel pool.
"Walk in like you own the place," he said. "Walk in with confidence and people will respond to you no matter what you look like."
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