Lyonel Doherty, Times Chronicle
Adam Wieherdt has no hesitation admitting he has been in a life-long abusive relationship . . . with himself.
But as the new youth outreach worker hired by Oliver Parks and Recreation, he’s hoping to use his streetwise experience to engage local teens and give them a voice. And more importantly, something to do in this town.
Growing up in foster care and low-income housing, Wieherdt has battled mental health demons since he was five years old.
Since then, Wieherdt has represented youth in many capacities during his varied career in the Lower Mainland.
“I’m big on building sustainable communities, and my belief has always been that youth need to be more involved.”
At age 41, Wieherdt looks like a big kid himself, with a black bandana on his head and leather bracelets on his wrists.
He said a lot of time is spent talking down to youth and treating them like they don’t matter.
“Making them feel like they belong is incredibly important or else, if there is no attachment, what do they care?”
Wieherdt said there appears to be an “us versus them” mentality in Oliver youth.
“I hear them a lot saying they want to leave, they just want out of this place.”
He noted that some don’t even feel welcome at the skate park. Pushed out and isolated – that’s how they feel, he added.
Wieherdt knows exactly what they’re going through.
He recalled the psychological abuse he suffered from his older sister who spent her time convincing him that he was worthless. His father was not a role model by any means, and his mother was very “overprotective.”
Wieherdt was 10 years old when he moved into low-income housing where a group of people took him under their wing.
“They believed I had more of a chance for a future than they did.”
He remembered an older friend who slept in people’s carports.
“He was a very intelligent guy, and I was like a little brother to him. He and his mom lived in a shack. One day I went to his house and his mom started crying; she said he passed away, overdosed on heroin.”
After that, Wieherdt went through an anger phase and admitted he was a rogue growing up. Perhaps it was because he was hanging around other rogues.
He recalled one foster home child who terrorized everyone.
“I was in my room doing homework, and he runs in there and says, ‘get down, get down!’ He turned the lights off and we see a flashlight [beam] and hear yelling. He said he had egged a guy’s car across the street.”
An hour later the kid’s dad made Wieherdt apologize to the car owner for what happened.
“My youth worker made sure I didn’t return to the home after that.”
That was a turning point for Wieherdt who vowed to help vulnerable youth and never turn his back on them. He began volunteering in youth outreach programs and convinced people that teenagers are misunderstood and need someone to believe in them.
Wieherdt’s goal is to make resources available to youth and use recreation as a tool to “burn off some of these pent-up feelings.”
His plan is to bring a lot of fun to Oliver during Youth Week in May. Ideas include a scavenger hunt and a big outdoor party for youth. He also envisions turning the community hall parking lot into a drive-in theatre. Maybe the youth could even design their own park so they can have some ownership.
Wieherdt said he really wants to involve youth from the Osoyoos Indian Band because their culture is so beautiful and it’s important to represent all identities.
He noted that when you look at all the diversity in nature, why is it so hard for some people to accept that humans come in different shades too?
His other ideas include a mural contest for youth, boat races on the river, a weekly podcast, and a media program involving film.
One cool idea is having local seniors gather on their apartment balconies and play a large game of bingo or tic-tac-toe, using the youth as game pieces.
Wieherdt also wants to work with the high school on various events including the pairing of Grade 7 students with senior students. The outreach worker said relationship building is very important, which is why he wants to bring youth and the local RCMP closer together to create a better bond.
Wieherdt said a community must do more than just hand out life preservers and expect people to build boats out of them.
