Some of the local musicians from the first meetings in Fort St. John.
BEGINNINGS
In the spring of 2000, 3 teenagers committed suicide in the oilfield town of Fort St. John, B.C.
I had moved here in the fall and spent the winter up north working in the oilfields. It was a very busy winter and when spring came I was in Fort St. John talking to a social worker that I ran into in town. I was asking questions about my new town and was interested to know how the youth were doing here. This social worker told me that 3 teenagers had just committed suicide in the previous month and that in the last year every two months another teen takes their own life. This just broke my heart. I could think of little else after that so I began Street Fire Youth Meetings in Fort St. John to try to make a difference.
I brought together some musician friends and we had live music and free pizza very Saturday night for youth and young adults. We averaged 40 to 50 people a night. Many years later I still get encouraging feedback from people who were helped by these meetings. I tried a few different locations, renting the Northern Grand, (Northern Fire), then up at Rose Prairie, (Prairie Fire), before moving to the Friendship Center where the meetings continued for five years.
The live music helped the atomsphere but I soon learned that getting the struggling teens involved with music was a key to helping them. I began teaching them guitar, bass and drums and that gave them a positive focus and an outlet for self expression of their struggles.
I started doing this kind of work in Fort St. John because of the teen suicide issue and essentially that was the core value of this work, teen crisis intervention. Many teens were struggling with low self esteem, hopeless despair and a sense of isolation. They sometimes didn't have a safe place to call home. Substance abuse, neglect, abuse, crime and socio-economic problems due to the recession were some of the apparent factors. By taking the time to listen to their story, showing them value and teaching skills such as music and encouraging self expression in a healthy manner I saw young lives delivered from death.
Some of the Streetfire youth.