October 30, 2025
Tyler wasn’t attending school when he moved into Mercy Home in February of 2022. He was supposed to be in ninth grade, but he quickly began falling behind in credits. He was also falling behind socially.
“It was hard,” Tyler said. “I had a lack of motivation. My mom threatened to take away things from me but there were only so many things she could take away.”
Every day, Tyler had the same routine: wake up, play video games, eat, sleep, maybe cook a little bit and then go back to playing video games.
“He’s one of those kids that got lost during COVID time,” said Director of Education Resources Sergio Rodriguez.
Eventually, Tyler’s mom said that her son was either going to attend school, look into to a program like Mercy Home, or leave her house.
Tyler chose Mercy Home.
At first, Mercy Home told him that they were going to let him have his own routine for the first week, but then they were going to start pushing him.
Mercy Home’s education team helped enroll him in Uplift Community High School. The work itself didn’t challenge Tyler, but establishing a new routine was important in his development.
“It was a little hard at first because I’m not much of a talker and I didn’t do much,” Tyler said. “After getting used to the classroom and wanting to be better for myself, I started to want to succeed, and I wanted to be a figure to my siblings.”
Tyler graduated from Uplift in four years.
“I wanted to finish school because I wanted to make myself and my family proud,” he said. “The main goal was to make myself proud but at the same time, make my family proud and recognize me as a person that wants to do something in life.
Now, Tyler has a job and continues to succeed while living at Mercy Home.
“I almost wasted my life away,” he said. “I never thought that I would be where I am right now. I’m living a decent life. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
Tyler’s story is just one of the many lives changed by Mercy Home and it’s education programs.
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