Revealed: How region’s troubled young lad has inspired many

Life hasn’t been easy for Tyreece Hiles who offended just so he had a roof over his head, but everything changed when Emerge took him under their wing.

Tyreece Hiles has gone from strength to strength, with the assistance of Toowoomba social enterprise Emerge’s CEO Jen Shaw. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Most people only get one shot at life, but with the support of a Toowoomba social enterprise, troubled youth are achieving the dreams they never thought were possible.

When a young man from Boggabilla named Tyreece Hiles found himself incarcerated in a juvenile detention centre, he wasn’t sure what lay ahead.

Tyreece Hiles working at Emerge. Picture: Nev Madsen.

But upon his release, Emerge chief executive officer Jen Shaw employed him to work at the cafe, where he has worked for the past two and a half years.

During this time and with the assistance of the social enterprise’s team, Mr Hiles found a permanent place of residency, received the Youth of Year award at the 2021 NAIDOC Week ceremony and shared his story with hundreds of people at an event held at the venue.

NAIDOC AWARDS: Tyreece Hiles received the Youth of Year award at the 2021 NAIDOC Week awards ceremony.

Now aged 20, Mr Hiles has started his next adventure and has enlisted with the defence force – an achievement Ms Shaw said had made her beyond proud.

She said although Mr Hiles had experienced ups and downs over the years, he was determined to change.

“He’s an amazing example of why we do what we do,” she said.

“It was the same old story – he’d been in youth detention a couple of times, he was exposed to lots of violence and drugs and experienced homelessness.

“He actually used to try and offend to go to jail because he knew he had a safe space to live, would get three meals a day and people there who would look after him, which is a pretty sad state of affairs when kids are doing that.”