Bermudian Patrick Bean Jr is a guy with a great deal going on.

He is living in Baltimore, Maryland, and is a housing specialist, an actor, a singer, and the proud father of six daughters.

But 12 years ago, he was going nowhere fast.

Born to an American mother, Rosetta Summerville, and Bermudian father Patrick Bean, he grew up between Bermuda and the United States, with the bulk of his time spent in Baltimore.

The 35-year-old said: “It was easier to get into trouble in the US than it was in Bermuda, because in Bermuda everyone knew me,” he said. “In Baltimore, I made some bad choices and ran the streets. I had a rebellion phase.”

Then one night a fight landed him in jail with an attempted murder charge.

“The charge was lowered to a first-degree and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon,” he said.

The two-year jail sentence he received was a major wake-up call.

He hated disappointing his family.

“I made a conscious choice to turn my life around,” he said. “I embarked on an uphill path.”

When he was released in 2010, his re-entry into society was not easy.

“I did not know what the freak to do,” he said.

In prison, he had taken a few courses offered to inmates, and was fascinated by the way the mind worked. So he entered the psychology programme at Morgan State University in Baltimore, the same university where his parents met years ago.

“Morgan State showed me love,” he said. “I felt like I wasn’t a traditional student. I was 25-years-old with kids, so I didn’t do much of the partying. I just went through and finished classes.”

Mr Bean said it felt “cool” to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

“I felt like I accomplished something,” he said.

But the next hurdle was finding a job.

“I needed a doctorate for most positions,” he said. “Plus, I had a felony on my record.” Then he got a call from People Encouraging People, a city counselling organisation, providing support services to people with disadvantages.

“I have been there ever since,” Mr Bean said.

His job is to find housing for people with mental illness who qualify for a housing voucher programme. The job felt like a natural fit, because his mother was a property manager and his stepfather was a contractor who bought properties.

“It felt seamless that I would get involved,” he said.

The work is challenging. His clients have to prove they are receiving mental health treatment before they can qualify for housing, but many come with unresolved drug addictions.

“The policy is housing first,” he said.

And many Baltimore landlords do not want to rent to Mr Bean’s clients, since the law favours the tenant. If something goes wrong it can be hard to get them out again.

And sometimes the clients themselves struggle to acclimate to housing after years without a roof.

“For some people, the walls feel like they are closing in on them, because they are used to surviving on the streets,” Mr Bean said.

He now has his own property and is looking to become a landlord.

“I will rent to people with the vouchers,” he said. “I plan on purchasing more properties and doing that same thing to build that wealth.”

Mr Bean is aware of Bermuda’s housing issues and would love to help tackle those.

Mr Bean has also been a hip-hop artist since he was 19.

“I have been progressing in my artistry and fine tuning it since then,” he said. “Now it is taking shape.”

He writes music about the things he has been through.

So far this year, he has released two music videos on YouTube Day Trade, and Wild Wild West.

“They were very fun to make,” he said. “You can see the acting and the cinematic quality in those videos, and it is great music.”

His music can be found on Spotify, YouTube and iTunes, under PJ4Short.

Mr Bean also loves working in film. He discovered a talent for acting in a business class at Morgan State.

“There was a Valentine’s Day activity,” he said. “We had to read a poem to compete for a prize. My now ex-girlfriend was in the class, so I just performed.”

He read the poem with his best Swahili accent.

“It was horrible, but it was hilarious,” he said. “We won the prize.”

After class, someone asked him if he had ever thought of acting.

“I did music videos and always incorporated acting in there,” he said.

He looked into what he would need to get into acting. Then he started taking roles in films made by students and emerging film makers.

His first role was as Detective Chris Drake in a short film called Winter in Paradise made by FridgeRamen Films in Virginia, in 2020. More roles soon followed.

“Some of these positions were paid,” he said. “So I was getting paid and getting some experience.”

Most of the films he has appeared in are independent and at the stage where they are being pitched to various film festivals.

He is in the middle of shooting another independent film called Feathers.

“The director shot another film I was in and asked me to be the lead in this one,” he said. “It is a faith-based film about a guy released from prison who gets saved.”

Looking at his life, so far, he is proud that since 2010 he has managed to stay disciplined and consistent.

“Some people go through stuff and just give up,” he said. “I am most proud that I am better today than I was yesterday.”