Staff Bio
 | JOHNNY CHHENG (978) 856-3917 |
Johnny Chheng moved to Lowell in 1989 when he was a toddler. His mother decided to move her children away from Long Beach, CA so that they would not become involved in the gangs there, but Johnny found himself embroiled in gang conflict in Lowell. Johnny's gang involvement led him to spend five years in prison from 2003 to 2008. Johnny left prison determined to improve his life and community. Several months after his release, he joined the Youth Empowerment Corps at UTEC with the hopes of bettering Lowell.
After completing two years of AmeriCorps service, UTEC asked Johnny to stay as a Streetworker Fellow. Now Johnny is learning all the ins and out of Streetwork at UTEC so that he can become a full-fledged Streetworker. WBUR, Boston’s NPR station, did a story on Johnny's gang involvment. Now he and a friend are developing a road show about their life stories so that they can speak at community events, hoping that they can dissuade youth from a life of violence and imprisonment.
"As funders vested in the welfare of Lowell, we are keenly interested in the future of the city's youth ..."
