‘A better day is going to come’
When his story was told earlier, Chris worried about his cancer diagnosis and being homeless. He was living in his car.
To add insult to injury, he is battling to reclaim his home, which he rented out last year to make ends meet — a situation that led to him having no home or job.
Since The Royal Gazettefeatured his plight last month as part of its Ending Homelessness campaign, Chris has noted some improvements in his life.
Doctors successfully performed an operation on the 60-year-old and he is now free of cancer.
Chris has been living at Black Circle, an initiative helping homeless people run by the charity Home.
He now has a positive mindset but remains restless about another issue, which he calls “a major headache”.
Chris has been without a home ever since he made a costly decision to rent his own last year.
“I need my house. My mother died at age 91 and it was a major mistake to rent the house last year after she died. It’s what left me homeless,” he said.
The matter is before the courts and Chris has managed to connect with a lawyer to represent him on the case. He said a decision would be made by the courts soon on alleged unpaid rent. He is optimistic that the case will go in his favour.
Chris said he planned to fix the house and move in as soon as possible.
The Royal Gazette, in conjunction with stakeholders including Home, has launched its Ending Homelessness campaign to remind the community that the homeless matter.
Home, and others, want to end homelessness. So do we. We want your support. We want you to change your perception of the homeless. We want you to help lobby for simple changes. We want you to show compassion.
Homeless people want to work so that they may be self-sufficient. They did not choose to be homeless, and in many cases their plight was brought about by systemic failings in this country.
Home has produced a report, Plan to End Homelessness, which is out for consultation and points to issues and solutions to the homelessness problem in Bermuda. It can be seen in Related Media.
He recounted the five-month period last year when he was living in his car. He would wake up at 5am to avoid the public, dash across to use the facilities around John Smith’s Bay and went to the supermarkets to get something to eat at closing time.
“I was living on the edge,” he said. “I never could have believed it, that I would end up living in my car. This was something that bothered me, but I had to do it.”
“I had to bum places, like supermarkets, to get food. As I said, I never believed I would be doing that,” he said. “But you know what, I kept my cool. I keep telling myself that a better day is going to come.”
Days before Christmas last year, he was diagnosed with cancer, while he was still living in his car. “I lived in the car from September, right through to Christmas,” he said.
“But now it’s OK. I am always mentally strong and cancer isn’t there, and that’s OK. I went through so much but I ain’t going to give up.
“Everybody looks at me and asks how I did it. This would drive them crazy, they said. It’s unbelievable. But I kept saying to myself that better days are coming.”
He is gauging his recuperation and as soon as he is able, he plans to find a new job.
“I got to do this. I got to ensure I take care of things,” he said.
In 2010, the Bermuda Census identified 82 people experiencing homelessness. By 2016, that number had risen to 138.
According to Home, the Department of Statistics developed those estimates based on counting rough sleepers and the population housed in the Salvation Army emergency shelter.
As of December 31, 2022, Home had recorded more than 650 people experiencing homelessness.
Denise Carey, the executive director of Home, said Chris’s confidence was back on track. “Since he started living at Black Circle, he has reconnected with the community and his confidence has soared,” she said.
“His mindset and attitude have shifted and he is taking good care of himself.
“He keeps telling everyone at Home how grateful he is for all the support the team has given him. But this could not have happened if he had not had the courage to come to us. He could so easily have given up and thought, ‘Why bother, I’m dying anyway’.
“But he did not. He came to Black Circle and rose to the challenge of getting his life back on track.”
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