‘For the Greater Good’: Alberta Indigenous Financial Advisor Works to Empower Others | The Canadian News

CALGARY – It is often said that every name tells a story.

For Theodora Warrior, that couldn’t be more true.

“My name doesn’t lie,” says Warrior, a Blackfoot member of the Piikani Nation in southern Alberta. “The purpose of a warrior is not for battle. They are intended for the protection and sacrifice of all for the greater good. “

Warrior is the first indigenous financial facilitator for Momentum, a Calgary charity dedicated to community economic development.

Jeff Loomis, CEO of Momentum, says he is committed to playing a role in reconciling with indigenous communities and that bringing Warrior on board ensures a culturally relevant and supportive environment to aid in financial reconciliation.

Warrior views his work as one that empowers others, particularly indigenous families like his, who experienced poverty as a result of the residential school system.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission report says the schools amounted to cultural genocide, stripped indigenous peoples of their language and customs, and have led to chronic unemployment, poverty, poor housing, substance abuse, family violence and poor health.

About two years ago, Warrior attended a money management workshop hosted by Momentum, similar to one he now teaches, and was asked to write a vision for his future.

He had lost everything: his home, his job, and his belongings. He says it was a cycle that he had repeated for years, from the home to the homeless, the employed to the unemployed, hope or discouragement.

His vision on a piece of paper, now hidden in a safe place, listed 17 goals, including having a two-bedroom apartment, a healthier mental state, being debt-free with savings, and having a steady job.

Most of those dreams came true.

Warrior now leads the program that helped change lives for other Indigenous people in Alberta communities. She calls the workshop series Money Moccasins.

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“Financial wellness is a journey of a lifetime,” says Warrior. “Walking barefoot can make travel difficult. The moccasins are very tough and resistant. “

Thinking about the workshop she attended, Warrior says the information was helpful, but the facilitator, who was white, did not understand the unique barriers indigenous peoples face.

The facilitator talked about spending $ 200 on plants, almost the same amount that Warrior had received monthly on welfare.

“It has nothing to do with where we come from, what we really find ourselves with, what we have to work with,” says Warrior.

Warrior’s mother and grandmother attended residential schools.

As a child, she remembers living in apartments with roaches, using food banks, and moving frequently, both on and off reservations. His mother, who has three college degrees, used to have several jobs.

Warrior says she believes the fallout from the residential school system left her mother struggling to find financial stability.

When Warrior became an adult, she also had trouble staying afloat.

There were months when I had money to work in the trucking or hydrovac industries. At one point, he had a five-bedroom home and was financing a new vehicle.

But, he says, it all fell apart in about nine months when a friend moved in without paying his share of the bills and job opportunities disappeared.

When looking for a place to live, she says she faced encounters with landlords who made racist and prejudicial comments. Sometimes he left projections crying.

Warrior says she stayed in women’s shelters and slept in empty apartments.

“I’ve been through all of this,” he says. “Homeless. Hitchhiking. Food bank. Relying on the kindness of strangers … the accompanying depression, domestic violence, alcoholism, addiction.”

She says she now openly shares her experiences with those at Money Moccasins. Remember a participant who laughed when Warrior told the class that he was bankrupt.

“‘Who better to learn than someone who has been there?’ Warrior remembers telling the woman. “Being open and vulnerable with them so let your guard down.”

Warrior keeps a constant reminder of how far you’ve come on your desktop. Her computer screensaver shows Warrior staring off into the distance with her sprawling First Nation behind her.

The photo was taken the day before he lost his driver’s license for drinking. Shortly after that, in 2019, he attended his first class at Momentum and got a job at the charity.

She describes her Money Moccasins program, which started this year and explores assets, budget, banking, credit and consumerism, as a generation change.

“In this western world, money is life. In our world, water is life, ”says Warrior.

“This course, these classes, they give you something to retain water. They show you that you can save water, that your water is meant to be saved for the next generation. “