Hi my name is Eddie Mercado; I was born on June 8, 1989 in Loiza, Puerto Rico. It was a little town where my whole family lives, but also known as one of the most dangerous parts of Puerto Rico. My mom wanted to experience life in United States so she told my grandmother to take care of me while she found something new in the US. I stayed in Puerto Rico until I was 1½ to 2 years old. She came to get me and from there I had moved to Haverhill, MA. I spent around 5 years living there, going to school, and had a lot of friends.
Later on when I was 6 years old I had moved to Lawrence, MA. From there I had gone to Leonard Middle School. It was really tough for me because I had to meet new friends and start over again. After a couple weeks I had met a couple of friends, there I had fought for the first time but it was good after. I got so attached to Lawrence that I started to love everything about it. Until I moved to Florida I had thought that it was a nightmare, trust me it was.
After living in Florida for 3 ½ years, I moved back to Massachusetts but instead of heading back to Lawrence we had tried Lowell. I thought that it was an alright city. But what made it more fun was my 3 cousins that lived on Lincoln street at the time. I had signed up to go to Lowell High School and had attended as a freshman. I thought that school was perfect…until August 2004 - my 2 cousins got killed in a drive-by shooting. I felt torn and empty. By then I had joined a gang and from there I got really stuck into the gang life and didn’t know where to go. I had been in the gang business for about 3-to 4 years and it was awful experience - watching death after death for either colors, drugs, or even territories.
So coming out of high school some friends took me to UTEC and from there it was a learning experience. They helped to get me out of that gang and I started attending lots of programs. Now, people can see that I am involved in a lot of coalitions such as TLTW (Teens Leading the Way) which is a statewide youth coalition, the Governor’s Advisory Statewide Youth Council, UTEC’s leadership team, and the Youth Violence Prevention Coalition of Lowell, MA. Not only that, but I am also involved in UTEC’s board meetings. I know that if it wasn’t for UTEC it could have been jail or dead. That is why I know that UTEC is a safe haven.