New Jerusalem Now
Updated: January 24, 2012
WELCOME TO TEAM NEW JERUSALEM!
Back on My Feet Philadelphia has a team at New Jerusalem Now, a residential addiction recovery community located on the west side of North Philadelphia.
NJN is a non-denominational spiritual community, focused on the principles of nonviolence, simplicity, and cooperative living. Read more about their mission here.
The facility director is Sister Margaret McKenna, Ph.D.
PAST MONTHLY TEAM UPDATES FROM THE BACK ON MY FEET BLOG
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
Find all New Jerusalem Now news on the Back on My Feet blog here. Find all Philadelphia news here. Find other monthly team updates here.
TEAM INFORMATION
Inaugural Run: July 7, 2008
Location: 2011 W. Norris St., Philadelphia, PA (Temple University Area) map
Morning Runs: 5:40 AM (M, W, F)
Distance: 1 - 4 miles
TEAM LEADER: Todd Kurpel
Todd moved to Philadelphia in 2004 after graduating from the University of Scranton with a degree in Marketing. On their honeymoon in 2008, Todd and his wife, Sarah, decided to sign up for a 5K in Maui. After completing the 5K, Todd decided it was time to get back into running and decided to sign up for some races in Philadelphia. Somewhere around this time, Todd read a story about Back on My Feet in Runner’s World magazine. He also noticed that the SunTrust National Marathon (now Rock and Roll) in Washington DC had links for fundraising for BoMF on its page to help raise money to start the DC chapter. He signed up as a FundRacer and was pleasantly surprised to see the support from friends and family. In addition, Todd noticed the BoMF presence at a lot of the races he was running, including the Broad Street Run and the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon. At this point Todd was interested in seeing how he could become more involved.
In June 2011, Todd signed up for the non-res orientation and went to the morning run at New Jerusalem Now the next day. From day one, Todd felt welcome at NJN and was excited to add the morning runs to his days. He took over as team leader in November 2011 and hopes to remain involved with Back on My Feet for as long as possible. The BoMF experience has enabled Todd to grow as a person and he enjoys feeling a part of the community.
In addition to running with BoMF, Todd enjoys going to Phillies games with his wife and son. He is also in the process of collecting as many graduate degrees as possible and is currently working towards a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Nova Southeastern University.
FEATURED CHAPTER MEMBER OF THE MONTH FOR JULY 2011: MOHAMED
Mohamed seems to lace up a smile before he laces up his shoes for the morning runs at New Jerusalem Now. You will usually see him approaching the morning circles with arms swinging, head held high, and smile beaming. Mohamed’s smile comes in handy when dealing with some of the challenges that we face at Back on My Feet. To read more about Mohamed's story, check out this blog post.
