By Paul Fraumeni
In 2013, when he was 9, Andrew Poirier and his older brother, Jake, were in their family home in York, Ontario, watching a TV documentary about Canadian military veterans.
As they learned from the program, the veterans were living with PTSD, as a result of their experiences in military action. But they could not afford the therapy dogs that can be so helpful in recovery.
This caught the Poirier brothers’ attention and stirred them up. They wondered what they could do to help the veterans.
“We live in a great country, but our veterans aren’t being supported,” Andrew says today, thinking of their emotions back then. “They did a lot for us but why can’t we do something for them?”
So, Andrew got busy.
Using scrap wood and other found materials such as old license plates, he began building birdhouses, with the intention of raising funds for veterans. He sold them locally and, eventually, through Facebook and in partnership with the local Royal Canadian Legion. The birdhouses proved to be immensely popular, so much so that people would send him their old license plates. Andrew directed the proceeds to Wounded Warriors Canada for their pet therapy program. Since launching the project, more than $13,000 has been raised.
Volunteering for causes that can help others is at the core of Andrew’s being. His passion comes from his owned lived experience.
When he was 11, Andrew began to experience often severe pain in his knees, which later spread to his wrists and fingers. There were no apparent physical signs, such as swelling, so it was hard to get a diagnosis. That was frustrating for Andrew and his parents, Andrea and Phil.
Eventually, his pain was identified as juvenile arthritis. Andrew isn’t the complaining type, but he’ll admit that living with the condition has been a struggle. It kept him from his beloved sports like football and swimming and just made him feel uncomfortably different from other young people.
“It was really challenging and confusing. I found it so hard to be on the sidelines.”
Years of trying to find the right medications exacerbated dark feelings. And as if arthritis wasn’t enough, Andrew was later diagnosed with ADHD. The combination of the two conditions made life too much like one big, ongoing struggle.
But supportive health professionals at McMaster Children’s Hospital and McMaster University in Hamilton helped him through the tough stuff related to his health challenges. He says there were so many wonderful people who helped him and is especially thankful to Nurse Debbie Poppa and Dr. David Levy.
It was their empathy and kindness that inspired Andrew to try to do the same for others in need.
In 2021, he won the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award and has devoted himself to serving others with the Haldimand County Accessibility Advisory Committee and at numerous community food programs, such as the Good Shepherd Men’s Shelter and St. Andrew’s Church soup kitchen. Particularly close to his heart is his work two days a week at Cathedral Café in Hamilton, a program for the precariously housed based at Christ’s Church Anglican Cathedral.
Now Andrew is on the path to making his commitment professional.
He’s going into his third year in the social work program at Wilfrid Laurier University. He’s not sure how he wants to specialize his focus when he becomes a professional social worker. But he’s thrilled that in third year, he gets to do placements in real-life settings.
“Maybe I want to work with the homeless or help people navigate their lives through the problems they have. I like to be out doing something.”
But no matter how he helps people, he knows it is the force that drives him.
After having been away in Nova Scotia taking a French language course sponsored by the federal government, returning to his volunteer activities brought him a sense of normalcy.
“If I miss a day, I don’t feel like myself. I’ve been blessed with the life I have. I want to do whatever I can for people whose lives are very limited, so they can not just survive, but really live their lives to the fullest.”
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