Youth centre to re-open

Times Reporter

 

The council chambers at the Town offices were packed at the June 15 regular council meeting, as many residents came to speak about re-opening the Strathmore Youth Centre in the wake of the death of 15-year-old Jonathan Herrmann. A presentation was given about why the youth centre should be re-opened and the ways it can help benefit teens in the community. 

“Everybody in this town would benefit from something that’s structured, has planning, and has some type of value to kids that gives them value,” said Paula Beekman, with Strathmore for Youth. 

Strathmore for Youth outlined who they are, and what they would like to see happen. One of the biggest concerns is where do the kids go after they turn 12. Beekman said the critical hours for youth between ages 12 to 17 is between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

They would like to take some of the troubled youth away from the negative and bring them into the positive, and would like to see a safe place set up with counselors for youth to be able to talk to if they want to. 

“It takes a community to raise a child and there’s a big group of children that need, and we’re a big community. We all need to help raise these kids because it’s not one persons responsibility, it’s everybody’s,” said Courtney Herasemluk with Strathmore for Youth. 

Brenda Herrmann, Jonathan’s mother, spoke to council and said the skateboard park is kind of like Central Perk from the show Friends. It is a place where many of the youth will go to speak about all the things going on in their life, from homework to relationships. 

“When my husband and I were invited to his memorial where they released all the balloons, the first thing I noticed was the windows are broken and there was graffiti on the skateboard park. It was almost like a message that no adult cared, it was like the adults really didn’t care about what the kids were doing because no adults were there, it was just the teens and that’s it,” said Herrmann.

“That message was sent to all the teens like, no adults care about us, they don’t care about how we feel, what we say and where we go because the damage was already there and that was it.”

In their grief they also wrote their goodbyes, and Herrmann said they weren’t thinking graffiti. They were thinking love, they were writing their love for their son. 

“I don’t want to wait one more day for the youth centre to get moving,” said Councillor Bob Sobol. 

Sobol moved that council approve the lease agreement between the town and the Youth Club of Strathmore to re-open the Strathmore Youth Centre, located at 170 Brent Blvd. Edward Herrmann, Jonathan’s father, said that he knows the kids will help come clean up, and get the building ready for future programming.