Wilderness program teaches at-risk youth nature skills to prevent relapse
It's a sentiment that Thoreau would approve.
The Wilderness Youth Challenge Program takes youth from the streets into the woods to learn to become more self-sufficient.
The charity tries to prevent youth from relapsing into dangerous behaviours and has been taking small batches of teens into the wilderness since 2006.
"We take youth that are referred to us by people working with them — probation officers, medical people, students, teachers, student youth leaders. They refer youth to us, we take them out for 10 days into the backcountry," said Lee Eskdale, the program's executive director.
There, the campers spend four days learning wilderness skills, first aid, and predator awareness from the leaders before being sent off on their own for a four-day solo camping experience.
During the solo camping portion, program workers are nearby should anyone get into trouble.
The entire experience is designed to make campers self-sufficient, and to take confidence in their ability to make good decisions on their own.
One year after participating, Eskdale says that two out of every five campers — or more than 30 teens —- have managed to avoid relapsing into past harmful behaviours.
But so far, only one of those camping trips has been for girls.
Eskdale says they've had difficulty enlisting female volunteers with the necessary youth management and outdoors skills needed to chaperone the girls' groups.
Enter Morinville sheriff Christine Suessmilch, who worked for 20 years as a park ranger and conservation officer in both B.C. and Alberta. Today, Suessmilch works with high-risk young offenders at the Edmonton Law Courts.
"I figured my background experience would be able to add to this program," Seussmilch said.
Suessmilch found out about the program from Eskdale directly, but it doesn't end there.
"I just happened to be talking about (the camp) in the women's lunch/changeroom and we have some highly-motivated brand new recruits females — and it piqued their interest to the point (too)," she said.
Now, Seussmilch may be joined by two other female sheriffs. She thinks at least some of her colleagues' interest in joining comes from a desire to see some of the youth they work regularly with in a more positive way.
"We never see the good side. We're in uniform, they're coming in; it's a tense, high-emotional time. It's not a good place."
But out in nature, "we're going to be looking at each other at face value for who we really are and working together throughout this program," she said.
That's something that Eskdale says he's seen time and time again.
"Once we leave the trucks behind, everything changes. All of a sudden we've got a group of young people that are young people," he said. "You get a chance to meet them this way, it may make a difference down the road."
The Wilderness Youth Challenge Program is now accepting applications from youths who want to participate in one of the camps this summer. They are also still interested in finding other volunteers who want to follow in Seussmilch's footsteps as a leader.
The program, which is free for the young participants, will also be holding a special fundraising trip called "Call of the Wild" from June 30 to July 5.
