`Solomon piece``], ``O'Connor piece``  There were other articles cited below, but these are the two larger ones.  I have included all of the original references below for reference.     Reimer grew up with adversity,``Leaps Tall Buildings in a Single Bound``, Today's Vancouver Woman, Accessed October 6, 2009.``Andrea Reimer’s Rising Star``, Today's Vancouver Woman, August 23, 2008. a background she shares openly to inspire others, and prompt concern about homeless people.  Reimer was born in Saskatoon and put into foster care.Linda Solomon.  ``The Wild Side of Intellect``, Today's Vancouver Woman, August 22, 2008.   When she was 8 months old she was adopted by a couple from Vancouver who subsequently relocated to CalgaryJanet Steffenhagen. ``Protest started early for school trustee``, Vancouver Sun, December 10, 2002. prior to her starting school.  Her adoptive parents both came from backgrounds of abuse.  Her father, an agronomist, grew up in poverty in a Mennonite community in Manitoba, and was beaten and tied up outdoors regularly.  Her mother is a geophysicist.  Her maternal grandfather was an alcoholic that regularly beat her mother and maternal grandmother.  Eventually her maternal grandmother took her to Vancouver to continue raising her.  Reimer's adoptive parents divorced when she was a pre-teen.  Reimer smoked her first cigarette and took her first drink at the age of 10, and started to experiment with illicit drugs at the age of 11, and LSD at the age of 12.  She drifted into a life on the streetsGarr, Allen. ``Vision wannabes pulling out the stops``, Vancouver Courier, September 19, 2008, Page 10.Tsakumis, Alex G. ``She's got vision``, 24 Hours, September 12, 2008. from the ages of 14-19O'Connor, Naoibh.  ``Street smarts``, Vancouver Courier, July 25, 2004, Page 1. which included extensive worldwide travel to places throughout Canada, the United States, Asia, Central America, Europe and North Africa.  During this period she dumpster-dived, got arrested several times, got involved in hard drugs and developed addictions.  When she was 18, Reimer worked in El Salvador at a low income housing project, which she later cited as the catalyst for her environmental awareness.``Crusaders for a green planet: Our emerging leaders``, Vancouver Sun, February 17, 2007, Page B-2.  Although an atheist, at 19 Reimer enrolled at Concordia University to major in religious studies.  She subsequently dropped out during her first year, after six weeks of classes, and moved to Vancouver with her boyfriend at the time, who was a cocaine addict.  He kicked the habit after arriving in Vancouver.  In Vancouver Reimer joined a government sponsored job training program and started working with Gordon Neighbourhood House Youth Works.  She was then sent for a practicum to the Western Canada Wilderness Committee.  After Reimer started working her boyfriend fell back into the cocaine addiction and they broke up.  Reimer eventually worked her way up to become the executive director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee,[http://www.vancouverobserver.com/2008/12/09/andrea-reimer-wilderness-family-city-hall ```