Michael Reid on a good path
Published:Saturday | October 2, 2021 | 12:12 AMTameka Gordon - Senior Staff Reporter
Newly minted entrepreneur Michael Reid, whose impassioned plea on social media recently for help and prayers to keep him on the straight and narrow amid his struggles to make a life for himself, is set to attain his dream of completing his education.
The 21-year-old, who has been the subject of much attention after posting a video decrying the difficulties he has faced throughout is young life, is awaiting word from two educational institutions on whether he will be able to pursue studies at either.
Just as it did to assist him in getting a place to live and the support he needed to gain enrolment in the Career Advancement Programme (CAP) at Anchovy High School to pursue a course in food preparation, some years ago, his connection to his church family is again helping him to forge the partnerships he needs to get into school now, Michael told The Sunday Gleaner, noting he met his mentor and friend, Allan Green, through the relations crafted by his Adventist faith.
“We are looking at the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) and the HEART/NSTA Trust,” Green, a ministerial graduate of NCU and a counselling psychologist, told The Sunday Gleaner.
“We are just awaiting word so we can share more as to the outcome of that.”
For Michael, this means obtaining the credentials he needs to bolster his efforts of running a successful business.
Since his pleas for help went viral on social media a few weeks ago and his story was highlighted in The Sunday Gleaner on the weekend of September 25-26 under the headline ‘Determined to move mountains’, Michael has received donations from local and overseas benefactors that have allowed him to start a small broiler chicken business.
The Hanover native, who now resides in Montego Bay, shared that he has had a rough life, losing job after job and being homeless on several occasions.
The allure of criminality and the crooning of his cronies to join a gang, however, saw him reaching what could have easily been a break point but which has turned out to be a major “breakthrough” for Michael as he opted to vent his frustrations with his circumstances online instead of succumbing to peer pressure.
Amid rising youth unemployment and an economic atmosphere that has seen the folding of 40 per cent of local small businesses due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Michael is hoping to defy the odds and reap much success, beginning, he said, with the small milestone of his chicken business.
A GOOD LOOK
He has also reached out to his parents after a long and rocky relationship with both his mother and father, he told The Sunday Gleaner.
This, he said, will hopefully lead to the mending of their relationships that, over years, saw the young man harbouring feelings of neglect and of being unwanted.
“So far it’s a good look, everything is on a good path,” he said of the bridging of familial ties.
As he embraces brighter days, Michael also has plans to resume counselling to help heal the scars of his past in the coming weeks.
“I asked them to just give me a month to free up everything that is happening with the business and the phone calls,” he said referring to all the attention he has received since his viral video and starting his business.