Back on his feet after being homeless and suicidal, he's helping others

When Matte Black made it off the streets after ten years of being homeless,he vowed to turn around and help others who were struggling.

He founded the organizationHeroes in Blackto help people who, like him, found themselves unable to "see a light at the end of the tunnel."

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Black had been kicked out of his house at 15, and slept in stairwells, parks and shelters, trapped in a cycle of always "having to think about where you're going to get your next meal and where you're going to put your head down," he said on CBC Radio's Metro Morning.

Then, one day, he says he reached a breaking point. Black, who is a musician, was asked to play at a benefit for a shelter.

"I believed that the only way people would listen to my music was if I wasn't here," he said.

"That night, I knew that I wanted to treat that show if it was my last show. I had planned to get a hotel room and do whatever it took to take my own life that night."

Instead, "the universe showed me different," he said. A representative from a record label saw him play and signed him on the spot, helping him find housing and giving him access to a recording studio.

"At the time, it was everything I ever wanted," he said.

With his life transformed, Black decided he wanted to help people going through what he did, and Heroes in Blackwas born.

"We have 11 initiatives, some awesome programs and events for the public as well as youth in shelters and adults in shelters," he said.

One initiative, Hero Camp, takes youth in shelters out of the city for camping weekends. Another, Haircut Heroes, gives people on the street and in shelters access to haircuts and makeovers.

This Sunday, Black and the Heroes in Black will be at Nathan Phillips Square, distributing food and collecting warm clothing for the winter.