As a young man, Dyce always strived to be independent, but when hope faded as he transitioned from a teenager into adulthood, the weight of world was on his shoulders.

The 22-year-old grew up with his parents. During his teenage years, he yearned to be independent and believed he could have made it on his own as he was growing towards adulthood.

“I was getting older, so I was finding myself having different needs,” he said.

Dyce (not his real name) continued his path to independence and after completing school, he managed to land a full-time job. At the time, he had moved in with a relative.

“I was able to sustain myself and eventually I ventured off into different fields,” he said. But then life happened.

“I was working a full-time job and things really didn’t go in the up and up as I expected them to,” the well-mannered young man said.

“I wasn’t quite able to do what I wanted in life and I was left in a situation where I had to seek help.”

“I found that I was unable to sustain myself and being a young man, I have to provide and make ends meet and carry my own weight,” he said.

He was without a job for about six months.

During that time, numerous challenges appeared and he could not dodge them. “My relative wasn’t able to accommodate the needs of both her child and herself and me.”

Dyce was on the brink. Life were heading downhill. Asked if he was rendered homeless as a result of the situation, he paused for a few seconds.

He stared ahead and collected his thoughts. After rebuilding his composure, he said: “Anyone can become homeless, in the blink of an eye.

“Situations can lead to you being on the streets,” he added.

“I wanted to give up. Coming from a very religious family, I always had some part of me that would know about those little voices in my head telling me to give up,” Dyce said.

“So I forget about it all, so I was able to keep myself going, pushing forward, regardless of the situation.”

He was referred to Home, a charity, which assists people to get back to stable living, starting with an eight-week programme designed to restore the building blocks of a normal life.

Every ten weeks, the charity provides shelter and support for a fresh cohort of people committed to getting their lives back on track, in accommodations at the Black Circle building on Union Street, Hamilton.

Dyce lives on his own and recently managed to land a new job.

He enrolled in the programme offered by Home. The organisation provides him with guidance and valuable knowledge to complement his restart with new-found vigour.

“They opened my eyes to things and knowledge that I didn’t have previously. They really helped me to figure out things, in becoming a young man transitioning from teens to adult,” he said.

“So far they have been keen on assisting me to become more independent and stand on my own. They have provided the opportunity for me to get a licence.”

Dyce said he has not lost touch with his parents and that they had good communication channels.

As a young man striving to be a better person, he offered words of advice to anyone, including young men around his age, who may be experiencing life’s challenges.

“I would tell them that they don’t need to figure it out all by themselves. There are people or organisations that are willing to help them.

“Fall on to the right path instead of being influenced by the wrong path,” he said. “Time flies, so now is the time to get it together if you haven’t already, because you never know, it can happen to anyone.”

“I do think you can turn your life around. As long as you apply yourself and you are willing to turn your life around, there is no chance that you can’t, nothing is impossible.

“As long as you don’t wish to choose the streets and you want to see a better life for yourself, you can.”

He believes there is a “lack of awareness in Bermuda” of organisations or groups that assist people facing challenges.

“Which is the reason we are finding many young men that are feeling helpless,” he added.