What UP Means to Me - Danny's Story

When I first got introduced to United Playaz, it was by Ray Figueroa, a boss/worker in Brook Park, around a year and 1/2 ago.  When I first got to U.P. I was fresh coming from upstate, where I served 8 months for possession of a deadly weapon; I also got sentenced to 18 months probation.  Ray introduced me to Amelia, and I told her some of the obstacles and problems I was having, and little by little, I was fixing it, with the help of U.P.

For example, Amelia helped me enroll myself back to school.  When I started going to every meeting of U.P., in the beginning I thought it was going to be boring and people were going to talk about nonsense, but I actually noticed that the stuff they talk about was going to help in the future.  The way I saw it was that I could learn from others and not to make the same mistakes they have done.  If I do end up making mistakes, then I could learn how to fix it, or live with it.

My greatest moment with U.P. is when I got my official U.P. shirt.  I really felt like the man when I was walking toward the shirt.  The shirt represents all the hard work and effort that I have done with  U.P. and for myself.