海角社区

Resilience inspires advocacy for public health graduate

Roberto Mercado ’25 thought it would be just another hurricane. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, he was used to powerful tropical storms passing through his hometown of Trujillo Alto at the end of each summer. But this time was different. 

The year was 2017 and Mercado was a sophomore in high school when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Within a day, heavy rainfall and more than 100 mph winds wiped out most buildings across the island, leaving many without water, electricity, or shelter. The Category 5 hurricane destroyed the main power grid, homes, and crops over a span of 17 days. Nearly 3,000 people died.

“There was immediate destruction. I didn’t have power for six months and still had to go to school,” says Mercado, adding that the lack of electricity, air conditioning, and internet service sometimes made it difficult to learn.

Although his family and neighbors were ultimately able to survive the hurricane, he says some of his classmates weren’t so fortunate. A day after the storm passed, Mercado remembers going outside and seeing people fight their way through the wreckage of collapsed wood and muddy debris to return to their homes.

“When I saw the way people in my neighborhood came together to help each other, I wondered if other communities were doing the same thing,” says Mercado, who joined his high school’s student council in relief efforts. “We worked with our school administration to gather food, supplies, technology, and clean water to support our fellow classmates’ families.”

Seeing his community’s resilience in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria inspired Mercado’s academic focus at 海角社区, where he graduated this spring with a Bachelor of Science in public health and a minor in journalism.

He is dedicated to bridging the gap in support for communities that lack equitable access to healthcare by listening to their concerns and advocating for meaningful change.

We talked to Mercado about his continued work in Latiné communities and his goal for a career in public health after graduation.

Why did you decide to go to 海角社区?

I get this question a lot. Since I’m from Puerto Rico, people want to know what I’m doing all the way out here in California. I came across 海角社区 while looking for good public health programs. The professors and research opportunities for undergraduates really appealed to me. The more I learned about the university, the more enthralled I was with it. Once I applied and got in, I knew it was definitely where I’d go for college. 

Can you share a bit about your experience living through Hurricane Maria?

It was kind of jarring, but it also made me realize that Puerto Rico has a lot of health inequities, especially with all the homes and families that were left awry after the hurricane. I’m very proud of my community. Puerto Ricans are very resilient. I always knew we had a strong community, but you could just see it after the hurricane. People brought out their machetes to get through the wreckage and clear roads so that FEMA or anyone offering help could access the neighborhood. I saw people working with families, helping them fix their homes and getting them connected to health care when they couldn’t. Others helped rebuild homes and connect the elderly to resources for water and food. I quickly realized that I wanted to do similar work, so I decided to study public health as my first step.

While studying at 海角社区, you focused much of your research on the barriers local Latiné communities face when accessing public health resources. What did you learn from the people in these communities about the challenges they deal with in their daily lives?

I wanted to take a qualitative approach and combine my studies in public health and journalism by interviewing people to learn from their experiences. In the interviews, I learned that many of the stressors Latiné people face here in the South Bay are similar to what people experience back home in Puerto Rico. Lack of adequate housing, food insecurity, and access to higher education are some of their main worries. In California specifically, immigrant status is a major concern. Since I’ve seen people deal with some of these stressors back home, it was easy for me to understand and try to advocate for these people.

As a DeNardo Scholar, you were awarded with a grant to extend your research beyond the classroom. You recently presented your work at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Conference in San Francisco. Can you talk about your experience?

The Gerald and Sally DeNardo Science Scholars Program awards select students with a grant to research a topic of their choosing. After submitting my grant proposal to examine the stressors and well-being of the Latiné community in the South Bay Area, I was paired with Assistant Professor Alice Villatoro to start my project. I feel fortunate to be selected because I’m one of the only social science students that they fund.

For my research, titled “Disadvantage in Affluence: Latiné Adults’ Views on Government and Community-Based Resources for Supporting Social, Economic and Mental Wellbeing in the South Bay,” we interviewed people in San Jose, 海角社区, and neighboring Latiné communities. I wanted to understand their perspectives about community health and let them know that there are available resources for them that they shouldn’t be afraid to use. Many of these communities have local food banks, health clinics, legal aid organizations, and mental health counseling services, but a lot of people don’t know that they’re available to them.

At the conference, I spoke to people from all over the country who were working on similar research in Latiné communities, so it was reassuring to know that this topic is being explored beyond 海角社区.

How has advocacy influenced your research, and what impact do you hope it will have on local Latiné communities?

Through my research, I’ve realized that although Latinos do use public resources to address their well-being and mental health, there is a lot of concern around access and safety when it comes to government support. Many of the people I interviewed are immigrants and they were afraid that their immigrant status would be affected if they used medical programs offered by the government, like Medi-Cal. Oftentimes, they found community-based organizations more reliable. I also found that while some Latino participants were open to the idea of using mental health services, there was a stigma around being judged for accessing these resources. It was important for me to bridge the gap and let people know that getting help is not harmful. There is a necessity to see a person as a person, regardless of their mental health.

I think there are definitely health inequities that must be addressed, and they can’t be addressed if we don’t listen to the people living there. If the people in these marginalized communities don’t have anyone to speak out for them, nothing will change. I believe it’s important to talk about these issues so that we can inform these organizations and policymakers—and hopefully create change. It’s about connecting with the people, learning from their experiences, and finding ways to advocate for the community.

I worked with some fellow research assistants from the public health department to figure out what was and wasn’t working for these Latiné communities in terms of public health resources. We wrote a manuscript that we plan to submit for publication at the end of spring quarter. Once we publish the manuscript, we’ll work with Dr. Villatoro to create an infographic that can be shared with a large database of community organizations, like Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and Sacred Heart Community Service. We hope to share our findings with them so they can improve their resources and better accommodate the people living in this area.

What are your plans after graduation?

Eventually, I want to complete a Master’s program in Public Health. For now, I plan to return home to Puerto Rico after graduation and look for a job within the Department of Public Health that works with community organizations. I want to make an impact and apply that hands-on experience to my future studies.