The Power of One
Phil Peng works for a non- organization called Skid Row Running Club. Skid Row works with individuals struggling with homelessness and addiction and teaches them to run. Running is an outlet for their emotions and also gives them a goal to work towards and reason not to fall back into their old habits. Phil runs with them and encourages them to be the best self they can be. When talking with him I asked him what advice he would give to people who want to join Skid Row Running Club. He said, "Most people wouldn’t want to join because it is a very dangerous and dirty place, but just go in with the right mindset and remember you are going to help these people.” That’s what makes him an upstander. He is willing to go to a place that most people would find scary, and he helps the people there because he cares about them. He knows that he is making a difference in the world and when members of the club fall back into their old habits, he says he blames himself, that’s how much he cares about them.
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Being an upstander is helping people who don’t have a voice, or even sometimes they are the voice for them. Upstanders work with people to make sure they have a voice, and empowers them to be stronger people then they were before. An upstander is someone who does something without expecting anything in return. And that’s who Phil Peng is.