The Indigenous Cultural Helper Program

Report of Research Findings Prepared for Homeward Trust Edmonton

J.Slessor BA BSW RSW

November 12, 2018

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This research was conducted in Treaty Six territory, primarily in the area originally known as Amiskwaciwâskahikan. This researcher was also afforded the

opportunity to travel to the traditional home of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation and the Kehewin Cree Nation, to learn about spirit from knowledge keepers and from the land. As a settler occupier who has benefited, and continues to benefit, immensely from the signing of Treaty Six, it is my most humble and deeply vital endeavour to learn and understand my role and obligations as a treaty partner, and to work to ensure that all of my actions are aligned with those obligations.

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Acknowledgments

I have been overwhelmed by the support I have had for this research project.

Thank you to the Pipe Ceremony ceremonial Elders, Ruth Ann Linklater MSc, RSW (Anishinaabe, Couchiching First Nation) and her helper Robert Tate (Anishinaabe, Couchiching First Nation), and Howard Mustus Jr. (Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation) and his helper Ken Armstrong (Sagkeeng First Nation), for starting the research in a way that acknowledges and honours Indigenous sovereignty, the people of this land, their ancestors and all our relations. I know for certain that we are being looked after and that the ancestors have cleared a way for this research.

Thanks, as well to knowledge keeper, Elder, friend Harry Watchmaker for inviting us to his home community of Kehewin Cree Nation to learn about sweetgrass and spirit.

Of course, huge thanks to the brave souls who came forward to participate in the research with me. It is no small feat to offer to share your truth and I honour the strength, time, energy and wisdom that the research participants contributed to this research.

Thanks to Ken Armstrong (Sagkeeng First Nation), Homeward Trust’s Oskapewis (Indigenous Cultural Helper) for being a good friend and agreeing to share this journey with me.

Thank you to the Housing First organizations who supported their staff to contribute.

Ongoing thanks to the Homeward Trust folks Jarrod Bayne, Renee Iverson, and Duncan Scott.

Ongoing thanks to my UofC thesis advisor Dr. Linda Kreitzer, and other UofC faculty members for patience and extensive knowledge of research processes.

Ongoing thanks to my practicum supervisor and friend Mandie Dening MSW, RSW for continuing to hold me accountable.

Thanks to my mentors, friends, family members, knowledge keepers, advisors Karen Bruno (Treaty Six), Ruth Ann Linklater MSc RSW (Anishinaabe, Couchiching First Nation), Paulette Panzeri and Brenda Reynolds RSW BISW MACP (Anishinaabe, Fishing Lake First Nation) for their continued support and wisdom.

Thanks to my work team at the University of Alberta for allowing me to take a leave from my work to focus on this research.

Thanks to Carol Dragich of Dragich Design for the good design advice.

Many thanks to my friends and family who have been very patient and understanding about not seeing me for the past ten months.

There are many other people who have helped me along the way. Thanks to those not named who are appreciated immensely.

Inquiries may be directed to jane.slessor1@ucalgary.ca

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Table of Contents

Introduction 5 Background 6 Research Question 7 Methodology 7 The Interviews 8 Research Participants 9 Motivations for Attending 10 Experience with the Program 11 Key Findings 12 Introduction to Themes 13 Theme 1 Courage: Truth & Reconciliation 14-15 Theme 2 Unity: Experiential Learning 16-18 Theme 3 Peace: Workers’ Personal Transformations

19

Theme 4 Love: Empathy 20-21 Theme 5 Spirit: Spirituality, Culture and Ceremony

22-24

Theme 6 Connection: Practice Changes 25-27 Theme 7 Intention: Practicing with Intention 28-29 Theme 8 Healing: Observed Housing Participant Transformations

30-33

Theme 9 Guardian: Housing Participants’ Challenges to (Re)Connection to Culture

34-35

Theme 10 Guidance: Research Participants’ Challenges to Integrating Culture with Housing Work

36-40

Recommendations 41-43 References 44

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Research Introduction: Ka’swènh:tha (The Two Row Wampum Treaty)

In order to implement Ka’swènh:tha each nation must respect, understand, and work diligently to uphold the spirit and principles of peace... Ka’swènh:tha’s imagery represents how each nation agrees to never interfere with the other’s beliefs, customary laws, government, way of life, spirituality, culture, and language; elements and principles that comprise and underline the right to self-

determination (Rogers, DeGagné, Lowry and Fryer, 2014, 102-103).

Over a period of five years, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRCC) travelled across the country hearing the accounts provided by former students of the Indian Residential School System (IRSS). Those accounts, collected in the Commission’s Final Report, paint a picture of something that can only be referred to as attempted cultural genocide. The impacts on the former students of the IRSS, on their family members, on their descendants, on their communities, and on their nations are immeasurable and too numerous to list here. As a nation, we are still dealing with this legacy. One of the elements of this legacy is the loss of culture experienced by Indigenous people as a result of IRSS and other assimilationist policies.

Settler social workers engage with Indigenous people in many capacities and settings, particularly in housing support. There is an ethical imperative for settler social workers to disrupt the ongoing process of colonization that the helping professions have been a part of for so long and to find new ways of working with Indigenous people. The question becomes: (how) can this be done in a good way, in the spirit of Ka’swènh:tha?

Although this question is very complex and multi-faceted, one of the suggestions for working with Indigenous people is to acknowledge the whole person, including the spiritual person, and make room for the integration of, or centre, traditional cultural practices that can restore the spirit. The suggestion comes out of the recognition that Western methods have not traditionally worked well with Indigenous people (Baskin, 2003, 2009, 2016, Gone, 2011, 2013, Gray, et al., 2007, Hart, 2002, 2009, McCormick, 1996, Oulanova & Moodley, 2010, Quinn, 2007, Sinclair, 2004, Yellow Bird, 2013).

How can settler social workers potentially facilitate this (re)connection to culture for people who have been disconnected from that culture? Should they even be practicing in this way? My hypothesis is that many settler social workers may feel at a loss when contemplating this charge: they may freeze for fear of offending, they may jump in without guidance and (mis)appropriate, or they may refute the idea of working differently at all, preferring to stay safe and competent in ways that have “always worked”. So, what can this practice look like, this settler social work practice of reconciliation, grounded in the Two Row Wampum Treaty?

This report is one of the products generated as part of my MSW Thesis (A difficult journey: How participation in an Indigenous Cultural Helper Program impacts the practice of settler social workers supporting Indigenous housing participants) and MSW Practicum project; further, it is a gesture of gratitude acknowledging Homeward Trust and the Housing First organizations for allowing me the opportunity to seek this knowledge within their housing community. Their willingness to make space for this and other research is evidence of the commitment within these organizations to continuous learning and exemplary practice, and I honour that.

The University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board has approved this research study.

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Background: Indigenous Cultural Helper Program at Homeward Trust The Indigenous Cultural Helper Program at Homeward Trust, which was started in January of 2017, starts to fill in some of the gaps for settler housing support workers who are invested in facilitating and/or supporting a (re)connection to cultural practices with the Indigenous housing participants they work with. The program provides “training on history, traditional knowledge and culturally based practice for all its staff” (Homeward Trust, 2017).

Based on the guiding principles of security, discipline, love and commitment, the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program offers staff the opportunity to share their fears and apprehensions about engaging in this way of working and then provides opportunities for those staff to experience Indigenous cultural practices in a safe and supported way, acknowledging that everyone is unique, comes from different perspectives and will have different levels of comfort with what is being taught. Acknowledging that there is no such thing as a pan-Indigenous approach, and that Indigenous cultures are distinct, unique and vibrant, teachings are offered by Elders from different nations to provide different perspectives.

The hope is that by offering such experiences to the Housing First team members, their familiarity with some Indigenous practices will increase, and they will gain a greater understanding of Indigenous worldviews and the importance of cultural experiences and spirituality in a person’s healing. They will, therefore, be more likely, and more prepared, to help facilitate the (re)connection or restoring of cultural practices for the housing participants in the Housing First program.

Ken’s Background Ken Armstrong is the Oskapewis/Indigenous Cultural Helper with Homeward Trust. Ken grew up in Winnipeg on Treaty One Territory. He is a Fontaine on his Mom’s side and is a member of Sagkeeng First Nation. Ken has been working with people experiencing homelessness for over thirteen years and with Homeward Trust for over a year. Prior to that he was working as a Cultural Facilitator in a Housing First program and before that, he was working as an Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Worker. Ken is also an accomplished photographer and beautifully tells the stories of the people he meets with his photography.

My Background I am an immigrant to/settler in Canada. I was born in the north of England to a Yorkshireman and a Scotswoman. I have lived on Treaty Six land since my family moved here in the 70’s, although for most of my life I was completely unaware of that fact. Currently I live in Amiskwaciwâskahikan. I have worked with people experiencing homelessness for over thirteen years. In 2008 I began a journey that has brought me to this place; I began working as a Resolution Health Support Worker for the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program, providing direct support to survivors of the IRSS and their family members as they participated in the compensatory processes of the Settlement Agreement and the truth-telling processes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. My life took a different path when I started that work. This is where I met Ken.

As a white settler occupier and as a social worker, it is imperative for me to seek ways of being better in my role, particularly when working with Indigenous people. Social work has, for far too long, been an agent of social control, not social change. It is my passion and my life’s work to discover and map a different path forward.

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Research Questions What can settler social workers learn about integrating Indigenous worldviews with social work practice with Indigenous service users from the stories of the settler housing support workers and their experiences with the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program at Homeward Trust?

Are the settler housing support workers adjusting their practice because of their participation in the program? If so, how? Is their participation impacting how they view and/or relate to their Indigenous service users? Does it impact how they make sense of the experiences of Indigenous service users and perhaps change their relationships with the Indigenous service users they work with?

Methodology The research from which this report is generated is exploratory and qualitative in nature. I have approached this research using an anti-colonial research methodology for settlers as described by Elizabeth Carlson (2016). As a settler occupier, it is important for me to acknowledge my responsibilities as a Treaty Six partner and beneficiary, and to consider myself to be doing research in Indigenous sovereignty.

The final thesis project utilizes narrative analysis methods, the content of this report are the themes that emerged out of the research participants’ interviews.

Findings It is important to note that the findings presented below are drawn from truths shared by individual housing support workers working in a number of different agencies. It is my observation that organizations, just like housing support workers, are at different places in the journey towards culturally integrated practice; therefore, what is true for one worker may not be true for another worker in a different organization.

I have tried to represent all truths shared with me so that this document will be relevant for any individual or organization interested in exploring or refining their practice.

In an effort to determine whether findings are credible, I have shared this report with the research participants to ensure that it reflects what they believe to be true based on their context. I have also shared it with external advisors who can provide a third-party, removed, perspective on how the themes have been represented here.

NOTE: Homeward Trust refers to their service users as “participants”. I wanted to respect that and ensure that I used the same language; however, this created a situation where I was speaking about both “research participants” and “housing participants”. I have tried to be as clear as possible. “Research participants” refers to the people that participated in this research; they are all housing support workers of some kind. “Housing participants” are service users in the Housing First program. In cases where I have not specifically designated one or the other, I am referring to research participants.

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The Interviews Convenience sampling methods were used. Research participants were recruited through existing email networks. Additionally, I was asked to speak to some of the teams about the research prior to people committing to participate. Ten research participants were interviewed between June 25 and July 26, 2018.

The interviews took place in locations that were convenient to and comfortable for the research participants.

Four of the research participants wish to remain anonymous while six would like to be identified and credited with their stories in the final thesis.

All of the research participants agreed to being recorded (audio only).

In keeping with Treaty Six protocols, research participants were presented with tobacco and a small gift to honour their time, energy and wisdom.

The format for the interviews was semi-structured, the same questions were asked in each interview; however, research participants were encouraged to speak about what was important to them and each of the interviews was quite unique.

Questions were asked about their motivations to attend and expectations of the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program, their experiences with the program, their significant learnings, and any practice changes they had made.

Most of the interviews took about an hour.

After the interviews, I took the audio recordings and transcribed them first into rough transcriptions that include every “um”, “like” and “yeah”, and then cleaned them up for readability. I made every effort to preserve the research participants’ voices through this process. Audio recordings will not be shared and will be destroyed once interpretation is complete.

Research participants were offered copies of their “cleaned” transcripts, and transcripts have been provided to those who wished to have them.

All research participants agreed to be available to provide feedback on their contributions, ensuring accuracy in interpretation. Further, all research participants identified they would like copies of this report and of the thesis when it is completed.

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Who are the research participants? Settler Identity

Research participants came from a variety of backgrounds; there were people who were born in Canada, and people who identified they had immigrated to Canada, both recently and historically, from a range of other continents. Additionally, there were research participants with Indigenous heritage from outside of the Treaty Six area. Although the research was aimed at settler or non-Indigenous workers, Treaty Six research protocols dictate that no one should be turned away from participating (Kovach, 2010), so those with Indigenous heritage were given the choice to contribute. The diversity of the research participants that came forward speaks to the complexity of the settler identity in Canada, and also points to the fact that regardless of background, learning to work more effectively with Indigenous housing participants is a shared motivation for housing support workers.

Professional Backgrounds

Research participants came from a range of educational and work experience backgrounds. Two research participants were trained in social work. Other research participants had educational backgrounds in Native Studies, Corrections, Human Resources, Nursing and Education. Research participants ranged in work experience from under a year to over twenty years, and in experience with direct housing practice from under a year to approximately ten years.

Housing Support Roles

The ten research participants came from six different Housing First Teams. There was broad representation in terms of the roles people perform. Members came mostly from Intensive Case Management Teams, but there was representation from a Rapid Rehousing Team and also an Assertive Community Treatment team. Research participants held (or had held) a number of different housing support roles, including Housing Outreach Worker, Follow-Up Support Worker, Mental Health and Addictions Specialist, Team Lead and Manager.

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Motivations for Attending the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program Activities

The research participants were asked directly about their motivations and expectations for attending Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities. While very few had any kind of expectations, research participants’ motivations were quite varied, with a number of diverse professional reasons provided, and also a number of personal reasons.

Professional Motivations

Perhaps not surprisingly, many research participants expressed that they saw learning about Indigenous culture and spirituality as a strategy to improve their practice with their Indigenous housing participants. Lack of knowledge, or skewed, stereotyped knowledge, about Indigenous housing participants and their cultures was seen as a barrier to effective working relationships.

I mean, how do you treat people the best when you don’t know anything about them?

Connected to the idea of “practice improvement” was the idea of “increased comfort”. Many research participants expressed that prior to participating in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities they did not feel comfortable even broaching the idea of culture with housing participants. For many it was about being inauthentic, awkward or perhaps even the fear of appearing fraudulent.

Even if [our housing participants] have participated in ceremonies and they would mention it, I would have no idea what they’re talking about. So, I didn’t want to chat about it, just cause it’s awkward. And you feel clueless.

One research participant pointed out that they felt an important motivation for them to participate in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities was to ensure that the programming met certain standards of credibility and responsibility; they were, in essence, “checking it out” on behalf of the housing participants who they work with.

Personal Motivations Many of the research participants also had personal motivations for wanting to attend. Some of the more personal motivations noted by research participants are as follows:

• To do something new they had never done before; • To explore a potential self-care practice; • Because they possess a sense of adventure and curiosity; • To get out of the city and connect with nature; • To listen to others’ stories and connect with others doing the same work; • To learn about their own Indigenous heritage; • Because they are interested in spirituality in general, and how to integrate it with support work; • To explore an area that they are personally passionate about; and, • Because there is, for them, a personal connection as an Indigenous person from another country.

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Experience with the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program

Experience with the program ranged significantly in both types of activities attended and extent of attendance, or number of activities attended. There were research participants who had participated extensively in a range of activities and others who, at the time of the interviews, had only had the opportunity to attend one or two activities. Further, there was one research participant who had not yet had the chance to participate in activities Indigenous Cultural Helper Program, but was familiar with the program, although not in an experiential way, and had participated in similar activities through their work in other organizations.

Some of the activities that research participants reported attending were smudging, medicine picking (sage, sweetgrass, fungus and rat root) and medicine making, smudge kit making, sweat lodges, classroom-style seminars, blanket exercises, sharing circles, Elder visits, Sundance singing ceremonies, pow wows, and Sundance ceremonies.

Some research participants had attended individually, or with other members of their team, whilst some had supported the housing participants they work with to attend cultural activities.

An important element to note is that, for a couple of the research participants, there was difficulty in distinguishing the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program from the Cultural Program at Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society, one of the Housing First organizations; cultural activities tended to be lumped under the same umbrella. This was perhaps especially tricky as the present Homeward Trust Indigenous Cultural Helper (Ken) previously worked in a similar role at Bent Arrow and several participants knew him from that role as well. As this research is not a program evaluation, and as both programs serve the similar purpose of making cultural learning available (although the Bent Arrow program is targeted to housing participants and the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program works with the housing support teams), it was not important in such cases to delineate. We can still learn from research participants how sharing in cultural activities impacted their housing support practice.

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Key Findings Below is a summary of the key findings of this research project.

1. Research participants believe that housing practice has the ability to be a practice of reconciliation; learning about history and land through different activities with the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program has given research participants tools to be able to engage in this practice in their work.

2. A number of research participants felt that key to their learning was the experiential element of this program. They reported feeling better able to integrate or embody their learning than they would if learning the same information in a book or in a classroom. They distinguished between learning for the purpose of integrating their learning into their practice and learning for the sake of learning.

3. Experiencing elements of Indigenous culture through the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program has provided research participants with the confidence and credibility they believe they require to start conversations about culture and integrating culture and housing support practice with housing participants.

4. Taking part in cultural activities through the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program is seen by many research participants as an opportunity to engage in self-care. Additionally, many research participants learned strategies that they could incorporate into their own lives to buffer or recover from excessive stress, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burn-out.

5. Research participants identified the importance of having support to integrate what they were learning through the program into their work, whether support came from the Indigenous Cultural Helper, management and team mates, or from work and team processes that supported the integration of their newfound knowledge.

6. Culture was identified by most research participants as being a significant source of strength for housing participants (and for themselves). Additionally, many saw housing as a spiritual problem as well as a physical problem. Healing was understood by research participants as a process of moving towards balance or wholeness and pride in identity, as opposed to a more Western conceptualization of healing.

7. Many research participants made notable changes and/or refinements to their housing support practice as a result of their participation in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities.

8. For those research participants able to witness the housing participants they work with participate in cultural activities, they also witnessed positive outcomes for those housing participants, which were attributed to their (re)connection to culture.

9. Many research participants spoke about challenges housing participants experienced in terms of re(connecting) with their cultural practices of choice. Of particular note are a) tenancy agreements that don’t make room for Indigenous worldviews creating situations where tenancy issues arise, b) discrimination, and, c) difficulty observing traditional protocols.

10. Research participants also identified a number of challenges that they experience when making efforts to learn more about Indigenous culture, or support housing participants to (re)connect with culture. Many of the constraints noted were related to the balancing of priorities (including working within restraining timelines, feeling limited by paperwork, and living up to expectations around what type of work is valued); however, another theme that emerged was the challenge in doing this kind of work in a colonial context. Research participants spoke about the difficulty in building trust as a representative of “the system” and also identified internalized oppression experienced by housing participants as a major barrier to engaging them in cultural activities; this was generally framed as people feeling they did not deserve or “were not ready” to participate in their culture.

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Introduction to Key Themes Findings are organized around the following themes:

1. COURAGE :: Truth and Reconciliation The courage to move forward in a different way.

2. UNITY :: Experiential Learning Through participation in culture and ceremony, workers embody learning, making a journey from head to heart, from theory to practice, creating unity between what they have learned about and what they are doing in practice.

3. PEACE :: Workers’ Personal Transformations Workers can find peace in their own work which translates into transformations in their relationships and their work.

4. LOVE :: Empathy With increased understanding, workers can come from a place of love, empathy and compassion for the housing participants they work with.

5. SPIRIT :: Spirituality, Culture and Ceremony Through learning about spirit, workers can understand the importance of approaching housing in a wholistic way, integrating spirituality, culture and ceremony.

6. CONNECTION :: Practice Changes Workers are supported to make the connection between what they have learned and how they can integrate it with their practice.

7. INTENTION :: Practicing with Intention Working in a wholistic way means integrating culture intentionally with all aspects of the work.

8. HEALING :: Observed Housing Participant Transformations Workers have observed housing participants’ healing through (re)connection to their culture.

9. GUARDIAN :: Housing Participants’ Challenges to (Re)Connection to Culture There are many challenges for housing participants to (re)connect to their culture; workers can become guardians, advocates and supporters for the housing participants they work with.

10. GUIDANCE :: Workers’ Challenges to Integrating Culture into Housing Work Guidance and support are required to ensure workers are able to work through challenges towards and integrated practice.

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Theme One: Courage Truth and Reconciliation The courage to move forward in a different way. Research participants were asked a question about what their most important learnings were as settlers living and working in Indigenous sovereignty. Many of their answers spoke to the theme of Truth and Reconciliation. Answers centered around research participants’ notions of what constitutes reconciliation, what needs to happen in order to reconcile, what some of the challenges are in attempting to reconcile and how they, as workers, can be agents of truth and reconciliation through their work with their Indigenous participants. What is reconciliation? Reconciliation is a highly contested concept and it is not my intention to engage in debate here; rather, it became important for many of the research participants to think about how, through their work, they can be working towards reconciliation. Many research participants had eye-opening experiences that prompted or encouraged them to think about, or continue to think about, reconciliation and their role in the truth and reconciliation process. Therefore, I will present what research participants have identified as important for them in terms of truth and reconciliation in their housing practice. Research participants collectively characterized reconciliation as a learning and healing journey shared by both parties in a reciprocal relationship built upon the foundations of honour and respect for each other. This healing journey is moving towards restoration of balance between parties and will be grounded in collective ceremony.

You just gotta get out there and experience it firsthand, cause that’s what reconciliation is. Getting out there first hand. And having those experiences and being on that journey right alongside with them.

I think the Elder that was leading our sweat, kind of spoke upon that and said that it’s definitely … Reconciliation’s definitely a two-way thing. And he was like, “I hope that you can see from this that we want to teach you, we want you to learn, We want … you to be a part of this. We want to share our knowledge and our culture.”

What needs to happen in order to uncover truth and reconcile? Research participants spoke about elements they feel are key to truth and reconciliation happening. Several spoke about the importance of education about, and understanding of, the true history of Canada, including the trauma experienced as a result of this history, and crucially, the history of the Treaty Six lands we are occupying.

So, I’ve heard [Ken] speak a couple times, about the residential schools and the 60’s Scoop, and all that stuff. And the impact, like the intergenerational trauma … like how things have happened. And it’s not that long ago that these things have happened and are still happening in different, different areas. Like that trauma and how it’s affecting people, you know? Or continuing to affect generations down the road.

Because there’s a few basic questions I think every Edmontonian should be able to answer. Like, “what treaty are you on?” And, “where’s the closest reserve?” Right? And, what does that mean? Right? Cause like that means that you can say, like, “since the 1886, we’ve got our 1887” – I can’t remember – “You had a treaty area that’s the size of some countries! Right? And you had a history before that. And during, and to the future.” And so, you have to reconcile that, and you also have to know where the communities are.

As a settler person, the most important thing you can do, Is recognize where the people and the land that you live on are from.

I would say [what’s important is] them being open, or their Elders being open, to teaching settlers who they are, Where they are coming, where they came from and what certain things mean to them. And us as settlers understanding why they are doing things the way they are doing it.

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Theme One: Courage

Also identified as vital foundations for truth and reconciliation were improved relationships based on respect and reciprocity, improved quality of life for all Indigenous people (including housing), new agreements and additional resources that support Indigenous people to move forward as they see fit (both at a macro, governmental level and also at an individual, case-planning level), and activities that support Indigenous people to (re)connect to their sense of pride in themselves and their Indigenous cultures.

What are the challenges to truth and reconciliation? In addition to the challenges of conflicting worldviews and lack of understanding in the general population, one of the key messages from the research participants is that just because housing participants are (re)connected to culture, it does not mean that the work of reconciliation is over. As workers, larger systemic issues cannot be ignored and the focus on (re)connection to culture cannot divert attention away from the significant systemic issues impacting Indigenous housing participants.

I mean it’s not about just taking them to sweats and skirt-making. No, no, no, no, no.

I mean every journey starts with one step, sure, but that’s where our steps end. You know, I mean that’s what all we do. I think it’s made me think a lot about integration of that spiritual element,

In the program that is trying to patch some, some social imbalances. What [Truth and Reconciliation] entails for me is bringing the quality of life for Indigenous people, Up to the same standards of settlers, everybody else.

How can reconciliation occur without systems change? Further, how can reconciliation occur while people continue to experience discrimination, homelessness, and inequity? Housing support workers need to demonstrate not only cultural competence but structural competence as well (Kirmayer, Gone & Moses, 2014).

How are workers agents of truth and reconciliation? Research participants spoke about how housing practice can be part of the truth and reconciliation process; they also spoke about the fact that reconciliation will be difficult without ensuring adequate housing as part of the process.

And so, becoming a part of [the sweat] was just, like A realization of how Housing First can be a de-colonizing force. Because de-colonizing just means, In some ways, increasing cultural intelligence. Right?

You know, you’re involved in the healing process with Creator with the Indigenous people. You’re now, you’re not the Western colonizer, espousing your Christian views, Onto somebody who’s got it wrong because they don’t believe in Jesus. You’re walking with them in a culturally sensitive way. I am an agent of reconciliation. I have a responsibility to these people. Otherwise, they’re not going to be able to reintegrate into society in a way that enriches Indigenous people in general. I’m thinking to me housing is a right. It’s a human right and you cannot be asking, “when is my turn to have a house?” It’s a crime.

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Theme Two: Unity Experiential Learning Through participation in culture and ceremony, workers embody learning, making a journey from head to heart, from theory to practice, creating unity between what they have learned about and what they are doing.

Research participants spoke about the difference between learning about culture in a book, or in a classroom, and learning from directly participating. Experientially learning about culture was seen by many research participants to provide them with a degree of comfort and credibility, and for almost all of the research participants, to give them the confidence to broach conversations about culture with the housing participants they work with. Another important outcome of participating in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities was that research participants were able to share experiences with people who have lived experience, including housing participants, providing an opportunity for them to learn from their stories.

But if you’ve never actually been there and kind of experienced it, how can you deliver it to people? Yeah, like coming from university, we just read about the 60’s Scoop in a book, and that was it, maybe watched a video. But to actually get out there on the front line, first hand, where they’re coming from, it’s totally different. Just to get that hands-on experience, to be able to participate in it myself, So then I can share my experiences with participants. Say, you know, “hey, I tried this, this is my experience with it”.

And then that really opens up the conversation with them, to get them interested … You can’t say, like, “hey, there’s a pipe ceremony next week, do you want to go?

I don’t know anything about it, but do you want to go?

I just think that, as a kind of a …Well, I call myself an outsider, You can learn all you can learn, you can read all you can read, But then there’s all these different things that happen that are so engrained into what living that culture is. And so actually doing, and actually getting to experience it is something that, when that opportunity arose, It’s something that I thought, like that’s amazing. And I think you can learn about a lot of things from the books, But the practical knowledge that came with this program about the clients and then about the culture, That’s all very complementary to, to my understanding. Yeah, I’m more comfortable to talk about culture and things that are related to it with my guys on my caseload.

Most research participants also felt that having first-hand experience was an important way to establish a connection with the housing participants they work with.

What I have learned, some of my participants, I think have, they feel marginalized. And so, they close into. And I find that happens mostly when after intake, after the warm transfer. Cause when I read their SPDAT’s, and I’m talking to them, it’s not what’s on the SPDAT. And I find that when I talk more about culture, and their cultural activities, they open up more, and they talk more. To actually immerse yourself kind of helps with that relationship building, I guess … I’ve actually told like a few clients that like, “oh, I experienced a sweat.” And they were, like, “you did???” And I was, like, “yeah, and it was actually really cool.” And they … it brought about this discussion: “What did you think of it? What did you … did you have anything happen?” It just brought about like this totally different discussion.

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Theme Two: Unity

Further, research participants acknowledged that connecting to their own spirituality, or embodying their learning, allowed them to demonstrate their held beliefs regarding the value of culture and spirituality, which, in turn, became a way to connect further with housing participants and encourage their participation in cultural activities.

Well, I will tell you that a lot of people, once they recognize that my interest was there,

And I had high respect for the ceremonies, and it was not just forcing people to go and do things. But it was also, “I’m doing these things as well because that’s helpful for me as a human being. I’m doing that because I think it’s a great opportunity to connect, and I understand myself better. And these options are open for you guys as well …” Well once they recognized, it was not just me pushing something on them, forcing them to do something, They had a different version of … “Okay, that’s out there. I can go with Ken to a sweat, sweat lodges, stuff like that.” In that kind of cultural sense, I can also kind of relate, Because I can embody kind of the symbolism And the work and the effort and the … that it takes to actually make a sweat happen. And like the meaning and the importance of it. And I think that’s a different kind of knowledge than you get from reading.

Another impactful aspect of learning for research participants was hearing from people with lived experience, including the housing participants they work with.

And so, when I went to the sweat, there was also a gentleman that was helping with the sweat.

And he was a Housing First client and I remembered him ... And just seeing how that was so important to him, to help out in that cultural way. And it…and he really was there and teaching and really keen on letting us know that … How important it was to him and how important it was to everyone there.

I want to do more experiential learning, because I like learning from people … That … that’s what they do, that’s what they’re…that’s who they are. And you can see how important it is to people and you can see … the knowledge that they want to share. And I think that that transcends into how you work with clients. And have people, you know, community members, who have been able to, to hold a house, you know, Have them talk, not being interviewed or something like that, but maybe have them … A conversation with them you know so…. To learn…To figure out, you know, what are the struggles right?

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Theme Two: Unity

Research participants were impressed by housing participants’ willingness to teach them and saw learning from the housing participants that they worked with as a means to create a more equal, reciprocal relationship.

And so, I have clients, that are so eager to teach me, and I think that is amazing. I think that, so the person that I’m working with…I think it’s really important for her.

She’s really excited, and it’s really important for her to, like, teach me about it. Because I came in, I was very honest with her, I was like, “I don’t know anything about this. Like I don’t know…You’re talking about medicine picking, I don’t know what that means. I don’t know what medicine we are going to pick.” And she’s like, “this is so exciting.” Like, rubbing her hands together. “We’re going to go do this, we’re going to pick this, we’re going to do this with this.” So, this … it’s exciting for her to pass on that knowledge… To someone that doesn’t know necessarily much about it … That she can share something instead of…. Cause I work with her mostly within the addiction realm. So, it’s often me sharing things or us working on certain things. And in that kind of dynamic…I think she would consider me the expert cause that’s what I’m there to help her with. So, I think that’s really…that’s really interesting that … That she’s so excited to have that opportunity to tell me something and share knowledge with me.

I knew this before, but I guess it just didn’t occur to me that they are such keepers of that knowledge. I can go to this old man and ask him words in Cree, and he’ll just tell me, right? Where like, I guess I always knew that, but what I like about it now, Is that I have the ability to pull it out of them. Where as before, I knew that they’re from up north, they’re Metis, they’re from these places, But what they need is to pay their Epcor bill, they gotta pay their power, they gotta do something like this. But now to go there and be, like, “hey, how do you say this word?” And he’ll tell me and, “how do you make this dish?” Or, he’ll tell me, right?

Lastly, research participants spoke about how important it was for them to be able to participate in cultural activities alongside housing participants; being able to do so facilitated relationship-building and allowed workers to see another side of the housing participants that they worked with.

Yeah, I’ve never taken people for activities like that.

It’s more so like, “do you need to go see a doctor? Let’s go see a doctor.” More those, “let’s get this paper filled out or this application submitted”. So…really expanding our time together and being in more of like a more relaxed setting. It helps you build rapport, so, I found that was beneficial to my practice with them. Because you do end up finding more about these people in more relaxed … Instead of you with a pen and paper there, writing down notes, doing an assessment so… But also, I think to me when people are in their own environment, I like to see how they behave. I think because it’s almost like they’re in their own little world. So, I like to see that because it’s, you know, sometimes I think they shine, or maybe they go very sad. So, I like to see that and experience that with them. To see how they feel about that.

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Theme Three: Peace Workers’ Personal Transformations Workers find peace in their own work which translates into transformations in their work and relationships.

Arguably the most significant impacts that participation in the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program had for the research participants were the tools workers learned for their own personal healing. Being able to take the time to participate in cultural activities in itself was seen as a form of self-care.

Like when we went to…first time I went to sweetgrass picking, I do remember that we were told to pick a spot, you know, and I just sat there … So, to me, that was being in touch with nature, And the ancestors, and whoever has been there. And then we had lunch together and then we did the… braid the …the sweetgrass. And then we talked and to me that was very… it was nice. It was nice, quiet.

Well, I came back from that … Sundance totally, I don’t know, love drunk. And just became really mindful. in as much as it was a thing for me to learn, it was a healing process.

Many research participants spoke about the difficulty in their work; vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, burn out and significant staff turnover were all identified to be realities of housing support work. Almost all, however, took away elements that they felt they could integrate into their own lives – professional and personal – to heal and maintain balance.

So that’s really cool that you participate in something that’s for work, And then you start using sage in your personal life, and it becomes important to you as a person, And your spiritual journey.

It was just really impactful. I came back the next day after that trip and I really was able to, in the chaos of the agency, Just kind of get myself grounded to be able to move forward.

I know personally, just in terms of like self-healing and growth, it’s huge. Cause a lot of us, We’re in this line of work because something has happened in our personal lives has inspired us to be here, So, to have those opportunities is huge.

I think for me specifically it was … … ideal to find … … the inner peace, you know? That ability to … … create … … the purpose of my work. It gave me, it gave me harmony sometimes.

I think I could have been in a very different spot right now … Should I have not had, have the foundation and that resource of doing some practices that will ground me. Because the social work is so demanding and … … worrisome, without … It’s a huge strength!

Honestly, it is the vicarious trauma that has improved. So, I have an outlet and an understanding of what I experience, in terms of vicarious trauma … The benefits for me have been enormous.

So, sharing it with friends and family, and then myself obviously, smudging at home with my girls. Self-care has always been kind of a struggle for me just cause when do I ever have really time for myself? But something like, the small, you know? Just taking some time out with the kids to do that – they really enjoy it.

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Theme Four: Love Empathy With increased understanding, workers can come from a place of love, compassion and empathy for the housing participants they worked with.

Many of the research participants had significant realizations or epiphanies as a result of their participation in the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program. Some alluded to “eye-opening” moments that changed the way they see the world.

But it’s the first time I was truly immersed through this program into that understanding of what, culture is. What Indigenous culture is, was … … Cultures, were and are.

If you could see the light shining from within me saying, “son, you’ve been a fool!” You know? NOW you get it.

We come at it from our own background and own perspectives, So, I come at it with a Western perspective absolutely. So, it’s important to learn, and do, and hear stories, and be open to other experiences. To help build that perspective, and help break down your own kind of – I don’t know what the word is – But like assumptions, and judgments, and perspectives I guess… The most important learning is a developed awareness of my background, my settler being basically.

It’s different seeing it… Like just seeing the actual magnitude of it. [Understanding]…where they’re coming from that got them there, yeah… just really getting in touch with reality.

The eye-opening experiences and opportunities to learn led to an increase in understanding of housing participants and appreciation for their cultures. For research participants, this increase, or shift in understanding was quite significant and even transformational for them as housing workers and as people. Consider the following quotes from research participants:

But when I got there, I understood I was completely ignorant about what was really happening… And what was the causal factors for these challenges that the population faced at the moment. I thought I knew, you know? But I … I didn’t know anything.

I didn’t know necessarily that there were residential schools at the time I arrived to Canada. Then you start learning about those things. And these are the moments that open your eyes, you know?

I just thought it was so cool … everything we did, we just … We did it with a purpose. So, everything we did, we were told what it was for, why it was important, why it was significant, Why you are doing this. And so like, everything that whole day was purposeful…and meaningful …and I thought that was really, really cool.

This increase in understanding inevitably lead to an increase in empathy or shift in perspective. Brown (2007) defines empathy as “the skill or ability to tap into our own experience in order to connect with an experience someone is relating to us … the ability to perceive a situation from the other person’s perspective. To see, hear and feel the unique world of the other” (p.33).

I had more empathy, from the place that, that’s a huge loss. That’s a cultural loss, that’s the loss of traditions, that’s the loss of language. That’s the result of colonization that took place. And that’s the homelessness And all that despair is the result of that bigger loss.

I guess I just…everything’s deeper. Understanding where they’re coming from and seeing it firsthand… Yeah, just understanding that they’re doing these behaviours for a reason.

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Theme Four: Love

Increased empathy, or shift in perspective, meant that helping relations evolved from relationships grounded solely in professionalism and professional authority towards relationships characterized by appreciation, respect and compassion. Brown (2007) writes that, “if empathy is the skill or ability to tap into our own experiences in order to connect with an experience someone is relating to us, compassion is the willingness to be open to this process” (p.44). Having compassion requires courage; it requires us to be open to our own painful experiences so that we can identify with the painful experiences of others.

So, you know when a person is, is telling me something,

I wanna be there in the present fully, because whatever I wanna trust for them to see me. I want them to see me as a real individual.

We’ve had some participants call us ‘house checks’… We’re more than that, we’re not just coming to make sure there aren’t holes in the walls… [Now, they see us] as someone they can really go to if they have an issue. Like, that we’re going to look at deep…we’re not just going to be surface level.

My relationships with Indigenous people, as a result of this training, Have been … have just been so much more positive.

I have a gateway and a vehicle for wisdom and understanding and compassion. Most, first and foremost, I think that has … … changed my relationships with Indigenous people.

Increased empathy, for several research participants, has also meant the ability to provide housing support work more effectively from a more informed, more profound place, particularly when it comes to advocating, predicting problems and planning for challenges that may arise.

I guess it just comes from a deeper place, being able to explain to like another service provider Where this person’s coming from, what they’ve experienced.

So, when I’m defending them to say, get them rehoused or to keep them in the program, To go to my boss, I’ll know more about them. And maybe something like having culture included, it built up more rapport, More of understanding where the person’s coming from. And, and so that level of compassion when you hear, “Okay, well I had this person over for the past couple of weeks and that’s why I got a call from the landlord.” Instead of like, “oh my god, like, the person just doesn’t get it!” No! They get it … … the, you know, Western Residential Tenancies Act doesn’t support Indigenous culture. Or, you know … … it’s, there’s not, there’s a level of understanding there that needs to take place … The more I know about how Indigenous families work, The better I am able to … … foresee some of these issues that might becoming up within tenancies, And … … find some ways around them you know. “Oh, we know that this might be a problem. We’re going to have to talk to a landlord beforehand. Let them know that if we do have a cousin Joe, who’s, you know, needs some help time to time and…” Anyway, there’s work arounds if you know if you know what you’re going to be able … If you know what you are getting into.

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Theme Five: Spirit Spirituality, Culture and Ceremony Through learning about spirit, workers can understand the importance of approaching housing in a wholistic way, integrating spirituality, culture and ceremony.

For the purpose of this research the terms spirituality, culture and ceremony will be used almost interchangeably, as most research participants tended to do so. “Spirituality”, here, is not used as a synonym for “religion”, as generally it was not used this way by research participants. Four sub-themes that emerged around the topic of spirituality were spirituality as a strength, a spiritual understanding of healing, homelessness as a spiritual problem and the lack of spirituality in housing support and/or social work practice.

Spirituality as a strength One theme that research participants identified is that spirituality is a strength (both for themselves as identified earlier and for the housing participants).

It’s about the earth, it’s about the water. It’s elemental and you are in awe because you know this is so real and so important. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen things, how culture has changed their lives. And sometimes you need to come back. If you find that certain things are not working, you need to come back. And I said, “if you’re a religious person, you need to really think and just pray. And if you think culture is the best route, it doesn’t hurt to try and find some… Something that you can fall back to. So, I think to me, I mean still, I see it relevant because as a human being, I think we need to find that balance … You know, where do we belong? And what will guide us? Right? Because it’s … Otherwise, we’re walking like lost souls or individuals. So, I believe in that. You know?

A spiritual understanding of healing Research participants spoke about healing in terms of recovering what had been lost as a result of colonization. The healing process necessitated a recovery of those pieces towards a state of being balanced or whole. For those who spoke about healing, it was characterized as a journey or a process.

Just never having that cultural piece. A piece of them is missing and has been missing. And they won’t be whole till they find that piece. If they had a chance to follow with their traditions and ceremonies, and protocols, I think that would be the healing journey. That’s the journey to recovery.

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Theme Five: Spirit

Homelessness as a spiritual problem Several research participants spoke about their realizations that for many of their Indigenous housing participants, home was not so much about a physical structure being provided, but more about establishing roots and connections to their community and culture.

Because, you know, if you see them, just within the city lines, they just look lost, you know? But then you dig deeper and you know that these guys are actually far from lost, you know? They just have a particular population, generation that needs to find their way back, you know, to their roots. They’re just, they’re on a journey right now. They are not lost, they’re still at home.” Homelessness is just as much spiritual as it is physical. We know that housing, being housed, it very different for the Aboriginal people, right? It’s not just having the four walls and a roof over the head. And it’s not just dragging you out of the street and giving you the key to a rented apartment. It’s very different. That’s the profound deficit in this work, That it just focuses on the physical, material aspects of the house, home, home itself. When you look at what sustainable housing is, that’s, that encompasses everything. That’s like their mind, their spirit, their body, their wellness. Everything is encompassed into that, So, if I’m just focusing … As a housing worker, I’m, I’m never just focusing on housing, I’m focusing on everything. And kind of steering and guiding them towards, wholeness but starting with the housing piece, That’s the grounding piece right there. They’re missing the spiritual piece a lot. You can’t just house someone and be, like, “okay, you’re good to go!”

Acknowledging the divergent definitions of “home” allowed housing support workers to contextualize common issues like guest management issues rather than simply blaming the housing participants for not following the rules.

You know it’s really easy to say, “well, you know, guest management is such a big issue.” “You can’t have people over, and anybody not on the lease can’t stay over.” Okay, that’s really easy to say, but if you understand Indigenous culture, You know that it’s a very … there’s a very collective culture, So, if somebody is in need, there’s going to be a real need, especially if it’s a family member, To take them off the street. Its’s very different, and most of the people that I worked with, did have trouble with guest management. The more you knock on the door and tell them not to invite the brother and the nephew and all of that, The more they do! But this is how, it’s not just the walls that determine the home. And quite often, they fail, and THEY fail! And we say they fail. And it’s not their failure, and it’s not just the system’s failure, it’s common failure.

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Theme Five: Spirit

Spirituality and social work practice For several of the research participants it was apparent that the lack of integration of spirituality into the work is a short-coming of the practice, and a missed opportunity.

“It was all very much Westernized approaches. You know, “hey, let’s go to your psychiatrist, let’s look at maybe changing your meds, Let’s follow up with your family doctor.” It was never, “maybe we should try culture and spirituality as an intervention instead.” After you leave the ceremony, it gives you peace.

It gives you the ability to look at the world through a more humble lens. It’s not just for material achievements, but there’s a higher level that you are working toward. And that’s sort of what I think, I see quite missing in the work that people provide. The spiritual dimension is missing for me. The element of the spiritual is included [in the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program], And that was the main learning for me. It was that humbleness that you can find, when working with people. Ken’s program is a very unique program because as a worker, I had an opportunity to, as I mentioned, integrate culture and spirituality into social work. And I do think in many ways spirituality is missing in social work practice. There’s so much stuff that we don’t talk about within the human services … And spiritual realm of things that people aren’t willing to talk about and, or don’t understand …

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Theme Six: Connection Practice Changes Workers are supported to make the connection between what they have learned and how they can integrate it with their practice.

As a result of attending cultural activities, research participants made changes to, or refined elements of their housing support practice. Some research participants noted that, rather than elements changing drastically, the process was characterized more as a re-affirming of things they already knew, or an underscoring of why it was important. All research participants noted the importance of prioritizing their relationships with the housing participants they work with. Other changes or refinements reported fall within the following categories.

Reflective Practice Reflective practice is being used here to denote areas where taking part in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities caused housing support workers to reflect on elements of their own housing support practice.

• Awareness of “expert” power: for several research participants, taking part in the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program was a

good reminder that it is crucial to respect housing participants’ rights to determine for themselves what their goals for service are and to be mindful to not impose agendas.

I think I always tried to always have a stance of not telling people what they need to be doing, Or what I want their goals to be. But I think it clarified it as to why I shouldn’t be like that more so … because… Because I feel like a lot of these people that I work with have, well, they’ve been told that their whole lives… And that’s, you know … obviously, not the way to go… it hasn’t been working … And I’m just, you know, probably another worker that they’ve come across, That is saying, “you need to do this, this and this to succeed.” So really, just framing our time together how they see fit. I give suggestions all the time, when they allow me to, But it’s more so letting people guide their own time with our program. Because they are experts on themselves. You have to understand that what priority is to other people is not what it is to you. Thinking about it, going to this sweat, puts it into perspective that you have to take a step back, And understand what’s important to people. I don’t think I’ll ever know fully where they are coming from in our limited time together unfortunately. Putting pressure on someone to do something over and over, it’s just … The proof shows that if they’ve been told by multiple workers, and they’re very vocal about it, When they say, “I’ve been told to do this before, it’s clearly not working.”

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Theme Six: Connection

• Awareness of unconscious reactions and the ability to react differently: it was noted by a number of research participants that once they understood the context of housing participants’ behaviours, it was much easier for them to not experience those behaviours in a personal way but to approach the situation with patience and understanding.

Because you can have somebody that’s experiencing a lot of negative stuff in their life. And on the surface level, boy! You know, it’s a real challenge just to have a conversation with them. They might be very unpleasant towards you. But once you have a degree of knowledge and understanding, You can now have that conversation. You have space for that conversation.

I take a step back, and I think, “okay, so who am I? What am I doing? What are my counter-transferences? What are my assumptions? How can I best support this person in that way?” Because I understand that what I’m doing, is in her best interest, But how can I approach that differently?

It didn’t change my practice, only just helped with my understanding, you know? Because also like I said I’m human…you know? I mean if you curse me out and … I have feelings too, you know? But um…I’m somewhat desensitized to all the extras that come with, you know, Indigenous people that are suffering from trauma. It’s just, “I will get you housed, we’ll get you help”.

• It was also pointed out that at times it is important to acknowledge our limits as workers and allow that someone else might

be better suited for the task at hand. The ability to recognise those limits comes from a deeper understanding of what the housing worker represents to that housing participant in that interaction.

And that’s even taught me to stand up for myself at the office. So, if they schedule me for something, and I’m unfortunately not comfortable doing that in this situation, I don’t really know [the person], something like that, So, now I stand up, and I say, “that’s not going to work out the best, that’s not going to be best for the client, Because of this, this and this”, right?

• The importance of ongoing education or continuing competence was also something research participants spoke about.

Workers appeared to be quite inspired and motivated to continue to learn more about how they could improve this area of their practice.

I think my knowledge has increased, but I honestly still think I’m in infancy. I still have lots to learn. If it had not been the end of that sort of medicine picking season, I would have gone to many more other medicine picking, like sage and sweetgrass. I would have tried to find the time to go to all of them and learn about those things.

I will definitely go for more and more activities. Yeah, that was very important learning for me.

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Theme Six: Connection

Evolving Conversations As noted earlier, for many research participants, their comfort level for having conversations about culture and spirituality had increased as a result of taking part in the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program. What this meant for their practice is that those conversations were starting to happen in a much more significant, intentional way. Workers were beginning to ask about culture and they were also beginning to ask about trauma.

Before it was just kind of like, you know, “hey, culture, you into it? No? Okay, moving on.” And then we’d go on to something else. But now, like I know a few things, or I could say I’ve been to a few different activities. And I’ll even explain to them how I was nervous or… It broke down that wall.

I don’t know how, you know, my conversations with, with the people that I’m serving have changed. I don’t ask some questions, I don’t need to ask other questions...

I can talk about those things with them and it’s almost … it almost becomes more normal, or a part of conversation.

Just finding exactly what the trauma is that they are masking. And then seeing if they want to attempt therapeutic recovery. If they want to connect with someone, if they’re not quite ready yet. Just having that conversation, and then always revisiting it.

Supporting the Restoring of Cultural Practices Research participants identified a number of strategies used to support the restoring of, or (re)connection to, cultural practices for the housing participants they work with: • Utilizing the monthly cultural calendars to facilitate a regular, consistent, ongoing conversation or check-in regarding that

person’s feelings about attending cultural programming, and potentially even scheduling in activities for the month. • Arranging supports/Elders to come to housing participants, rather than expecting participants to go to supports. • Providing smudge kits, acknowledging housing participants might not have access to medicines. • Having smudge available in communal office spaces. • Providing transportation to cultural activities. • Attending cultural activities with housing participants. • Having the Indigenous Cultural Helper come and speak to people who had questions about attending, especially about the

protocols in place.

Supporting Community Connections and Referrals One of the goals of Housing First is to help people to integrate into their new community once they are housed. Research participants felt better-equipped to facilitate this connection as a result of their participation in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities. They felt that their increased awareness of additional resources, such as Elders, other resources available for Indigenous people (like counselling for trauma), and other Indigenous organizations and communities prepared them better for the job of making connections for the housing participants that they work with.

Other Evolving Work Strategies Lastly, other strategies reported to be evolving in the work were: • Scheduling longer times for intakes to allow for a more in-depth conversation, including time to start to build a relationship

and listen to the housing participant’s concerns. • Doing more in-depth assessments, even though the prescribed tools do not necessarily require it.

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Theme Seven: Intention Practicing with Intention Working in a wholistic way means integrating culture with intention into all aspects of the work.

As a theme, “practicing with Intention” certainly overlaps with the above noted theme of “connection”, or changes to practice. However, “practicing with Intention” is captured separately as research participants identified that they feel more supported to make sustainable practice changes if commitment to integration exists throughout all levels of the organizations. Ideally for a number of research participants, culture will become integrated with all work processes and all aspects of programming.

Practicing with intention meant a number of things for research participants. Firstly, it meant that support, and direction, to integrate culture with their housing practice was coming from upper levels of management, including individual organization management and Homeward Trust management. It was crucial for research participants to believe that the commitment is shared by the leaders of these organizations. Research participants hoped to (continue to) see members of leadership teams attending cultural activities and also shared that it is very valuable when senior leadership makes space for conversations about spirituality and culture to happen within their organizations.

So, it was interesting to be able to just have that experience. I feel if the leadership team could have been more intentional on keeping that up …But it gets so busy!

Secondly, important for research participants for their learning process was the support from their housing team, including their teammates, and their team lead and/or manager, to attend cultural programming and also to integrate learnings into the work. Gratitude for such support was communicated by a number of research participants. Support included granting permission to attend, agreeing to attend together for support, helping to secure funding for activities with a cost, and creating a culture where it is commonplace to talk about culture and strategies for integrating culture with housing practice.

I was lucky enough that our program director was quite open to us, to allowing us, To integrate that knowledge into our services, so he was promoting this.

I find Ken is fantastic, cause he’s the one reaching out to the managers, and really breaking down that barrier for them. Because before Ken’s role happened, we never had any of this.

The third element of practicing with intention is that culture is integrated with programming and processes so that it becomes a part of practice, as opposed to random, happenstance, inconsistent instances that occur by chance. Research participants spoke about how conversations about culture are, or should be, happening with housing participants as soon as the person is referred to the Housing Outreach Worker, and elements or practices integrated even before housing is secured. Culture ideally becomes a thread, naturally weaving through every element of the housing process including intake, assessment, case planning, housing support, transition out of the program.

Well that might be our absolutely fundamental thing that we incorporate into our program, Is to offer somebody to have their, their home smudged before they move in. Once we began offering that it was, it was taken up more often.

But…really what’s more important on a managerial level is integrating these teachings and learnings, Into your processes for intake and service delivery.

I think that it should be something that’s offered part of the practice and offered when you go to Find to pick up your stuff. I wish that it would slow down a little bit and have that where someone comes with the team, With the people with the Find team, or someone comes, an Elder or something, on that day And will kind of bless the apartment and… I wish that that was something that was happening right from the front door as opposed to half way through.

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Theme Seven: Intention

In essence, it becomes normal in practice to speak about culture and offer to support cultural (re)connection, just as one would offer support to connect to a doctor or a psychologist. Basically, it is “just what we do”. In fact, it was even questioned as to whether it should be optional for housing participants, or whether it should automatically become a part of all case plans, due to the fact that some housing participants, as a result of colonization, may not readily identify that they want to connect with culture and maybe reticent or refuse when offered the opportunity.

I think that options should be presented to everyone, so that they can reconnect with their culture.

I think that it should be something that’s offered part, part of the practice.

I feel like it should be part of our week, or month, or … Do you know what I mean? Like it should be very fluid. It should be happening all the time and it should be innovative. Like on a monthly basis with those calendars…You know?

These things are available, and I give it to them every month, So, we do have a conversation at least once a month about culture. So, I try to be consistent.

I would, also like to emphasize the element that I think that in this program, this system,

Homeward Trust or the government who fund this program, they would think, “Okay, we are going to give all of these things for people to change to become housed, right? To take people off the street. And then, and then this element of spirituality, it can be also a [required] activity for you to change. We’re giving you the money, this market housing, right? We are paying for that and we want you to change. And for you even to change, well, we are giving you everything, you know? We’re opening the, all the doors for you, for YOU to change to become housed, you know?”

It was shared that Homeward Trust’s inclusion of “cultural efforts” into the range of efforts options in Efforts to Outcomes was very helpful as it laid a foundation for and validates cultural integration as a meaningful, “trackable” activity and not just something that housing support workers should do “off the corner of their desks”.

And actually, you know we are lucky enough that we DO have a funder that is tracking Indigenous efforts.

And IS using it as a performance target… Because, then … I can say, “you know this isn’t a side of the desk thing, this is a performance target”.

Finally, the last element of practicing with intention that was identified is the integration of certain cultural practices into office routines and processes. Some research participants noted, for example, that smudge is available in their offices and shared areas, both for housing participants who wanted to smudge and for workers. The visible presence of smudge signals to housing participants that there is an awareness and openness to speaking about culture, demonstrates care, and helps people to feel comfortable.

Other important elements here are participating in activities as a team-building activity and encouraging new staff to participate in cultural activities immediately upon starting with an organization as part of orientation.

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Theme Eight: Healing Observed Housing Participant Transformations Workers have observed housing participants’ healing through (re)connection to their culture.

For this research, in efforts to be realistic about scope and as the focus was on the workers’ transformations, housing participants were not interviewed. As a result, housing participant transformations are observed only. A future avenue for research may be to interview housing participants as to whether or not they perceived a change in their workers’ housing support, and whether those changes resulted in better housing outcomes for them.

Research participants did generally note, however, that their housing practice changed or evolved, and that one of the key ways in which it changed was that they were much more likely to have conversations about culture with and facilitate (re)connection to culture and ceremonies for their participants. As a result of these connections, housing participants were observed to experience their own positive outcomes, as discussed below.

Increased Trust Many of the research participants noted observable changes in the level of trust housing participants felt towards their housing worker and program.

What I can say is that people that we serve, that we create relationships with, Feel comfortable coming back to us, even after, say, it hasn’t worked out. Their engagement in the program is totally different. I just feel like they know that we’re coming from a more genuine place, I get that sense. I found after that she was telling me more things.

Yeah, so she was telling me about her past, and she was more open. And they hear that, people hear those, those relational things and they begin to trust you.

Because they know that you understand their history.

Increased Connection to Community and Family Some research participants observed that as a result of participating in cultural activities, housing participants had begun to (re)connect with their communities and their families, which in and of itself, had significant benefits.

They’re connecting with culture and re-connecting with family. They’re just finding those pieces that have been left along their journey. Yep, making their puzzle whole. Thinking about my guy up the street from here…he met an old kokum at the sweat. And he would just talk about her for weeks, cause she just made him feel so good. Because to some degree he felt reconciled, because he had a lot of self-hatred, a lot of anger, a lot of isolation. To be unconditionally loved for an hour, changed his entire week. Right? And that’s something so powerful, I think.

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Theme Eight: Healing

Restoring of Cultural Practices and Traditional Roles The definition of “spiritual homelessness” notes that homelessness does not only mean lack of housing, but also, separation from land and kin and also a threat to sense of identity created by lack of knowledge of one’s own role in family, community and nation (Keys Young, 1998, Memmott, Long, Chambers & Spring, 2003, Thistle, 2017). Being able to fulfill traditional roles is a key part of healing; participating in ceremony was observed to have significant healing impacts for housing participants.

And so, seeing that and seeing that their culture is still alive, and it’s still thriving,

And it has the potential to grow. And they can still participate, and they can still be a part of it, In the very same way that they can go to church. And that’s not something unfathomable anymore, right? The respect that they got from different people, from workers, from us, from cultural leaders. Just them being a part of it, not just being bystanders. Being equally as important as anybody else there. Cause a lot of the time, like, these guys are marginalized, you know? Just, I don’t know, their lives are being directed by other people. They have to deal with agencies. So, like, for them to be more active And equally as important as anybody else there. It was … I think it spoke volumes to them. So, we had, individuals, who were Housing First clients, helping out and they shared their story with us. And they shared how … What it meant to be involved. And to… He was heating the rocks in the fire, and that was his responsibility. But he kind of just talked about what that like meant for him. And that coming out to [the Elder’s] farm … How important that was to him to make his way there, and what that meant for his recovery journey, What that meant for his overall like quality of life. And so, through the Sundance, he was enlisted to be responsible for so much of these things. And with that responsibility, he gained purpose, and he gained connection, and he gained, just like, honour in himself. And he was, even though, he was carrying the chain saw, he was cutting, hauling logs… He was being basically, not welcomed back, cause I don’t know exactly the nuances of the relationship, But he was being empowered by the community.

And so, in the participants that have participated in cultural events, and have actually been enriched by it, You saw a change in the way that they acted towards the world. The resentment wasn’t lifted, it was more like they started acting and wishing for themselves, A life that was authentic to them. Which came from a healing process and a lift from this resentment, because for a brief moment they didn’t feel hatred. They didn’t feel powerless, they felt themselves. Right? That, I think was the most impactful thing that I’ve seen. So far. Is that transition. And they saw themselves differently.

Everyone had something to do there. Everyone had importance there, so it all… Everyone had their hand in something there. It was good.

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Theme Eight: Healing

Increased Pride in Identity One of the research participants who identifies as Indigenous spoke about their own experience attending a Sundance with the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program. They spoke about how attending this ceremony helped them to connect to their Indigenous identity and how that translated into the housing participants also being able to connect to that sense of pride.

But one of the things too about that is just being proud of being Native …

Because a lot of their life has been spent hating themselves for being Native. And I was … Just felt really empowered and for once in my life, I didn’t have to question my identity. It’s just like, this is what I do, this is what Native people do, this is how it is to be. I understood that the Sundance is for everybody. It’s like you go there with your own intentions, you leave with your own results. And so … It was just really empowering. And so now with these … A few of these guys I have on my caseload, that feeling of just being proud of who you are. And not having to feel anxious, or ashamed, or goofy, or just feel out of place. You can just like, “yeah, I’m Native! It’s great! Life’s beautiful!” But I think what I’ve taken away from it is, like, just feeling proud of being Indigenous, And just trying to give that to the Indigenous clients. Cause so much of their pain comes from being taught that they are…from shame. Shame is like, “I am bad”, not like, “I did bad” – like guilt. It’s like, “I am bad”, And that’s sometimes insurmountable, unless you encourage that pride. I don’t know, it’s a tough thing to do.

I think he said when we left, “the weight that I’ve been carrying on my shoulders was just lifted off”.

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Theme Eight: Healing

The Opportunity for Housing Participants to Contribute to the Community

A couple of research participants spoke about the importance of housing participants having the opportunity to contribute to their community in a meaningful way, and how this was seen as part of healing.

Like I had one fellow, he was one at the 12-month mark. He decided, “you know, hey, I would like to try and get my home smudged now”. So, we ended up getting him a 6-month program extension. And it was through that 6 months that he really did flourish. He met with Ken, he had an Elder come to his home. He came to our office, helped us make all the smudge kits for other people. It was huge for him just to have that opportunity. A good example is they were telling me how to make duck soup. Like how they would make it back home. They would put lots of like duck fat, all those kind of crazy stuff in it. And to see that being a part, and, like, when you talk to them about it, They get excited to tell you because no one in their life does that. They had to come to the city because they were unwell. They were unhealthy and if they stayed where they were from they wouldn’t get the health care they needed. But when they got here, they got homeless. Right, so they didn’t have anywhere else to go so they were living in hotels, living on the street. Couch surfing and they’re like in their 70’s. And so like, to have their own place now, and to be able to have a vehicle to tell those stories.

Improved Housing Outcomes

Although research participants weren’t specifically asked about housing participants’ housing outcomes, a number did share that they felt that housing outcomes improved for the housing participants they work with. They connected this housing success, at least in part, to their own participation in the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program; their participation meant that they encouraged and supported the housing participants to take part in cultural activities either together or independently. Housing participants’ (re)connection to culture was credited with being a significant factor in improving housing outcomes. While obviously these insights are anecdotal, it will be an interesting area to research further.

People are staying housed. They’re happier housed.

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Theme Nine: Guardian Housing Participants’ Challenges to (Re)Connection to Culture There are many challenges for housing participants to (re)connect to their culture; workers can become guardians, advocates and supporters for the housing participants they work with.

Research participants observed a number of challenges that housing participants experienced when attempting to (re)engage in their cultural practices. Again, just as transformations for housing participants outlined earlier were observed only, so are the challenges included here.

Discriminatory Tenancy Practices A few tenancy issues were identified as posing a challenge to Indigenous housing participants’ tenancy as they attempted to practice their culture. First, it was recognised that the practice of smudging is often an issue for landlords who are unable to (or choose not to) distinguish between smudge smoke and other kinds of smoke. In some cases, this lack of clarity has led to the prohibition of smudging and possibly the discriminatory eviction of tenants.

You are literally telling this guy he can’t do the one thing that makes him feel good. Right? Like every day he likes to get up, have a coffee, smudge, head out for the day. Totally reasonable thing to do, and you’ve criminalized it. Because now if you do this, you’re going to get evicted.

Another tenancy issue mentioned earlier is the issue of guest management. The current Residential Tenancies Act, and many rental accommodations, are grounded in the Western values of independence and privacy, are designed for smaller families and struggle to accommodate large, extended families and visitors. Over-crowding, as it would be defined by many landlords, can lead to evictions.

One final tenancy issue addressed is the divergent view of a tenancy relationship. While from a Western perspective this rental arrangement may be seen as simply a contractual arrangement, from an Indigenous perspective it may be viewed more as a relationship. Differing expectations around the nature of the relationship could lead to tenancy issues.

And culturally, you know, that relationship is important. There’s a difference between … It’s not like it’s a business interaction. “I’m going to write you a cheque every month And you are going to provide services outlined by the Residential Tenancies Act.” No! We’re going to have a relationship here, you know? And we’re going to talk about things, and sometimes that falls outside of the Residential Tenancies Act. What does that look like for you now, as a landlord and landlord agent?

Balancing other priorities The reality for many housing participants is that there are more pressing issues for them that demand their time and attention, making it difficult to commit to other activities. Research participants noted that it is necessary to keep having the conversation about culture on a regular basis so that, when the timing is right, housing participants will know where to go if they would like to attend an activity.

I understand, like a lot of our guys are in constant crisis. You know, eviction, mental health, there’re things going on. So, these [cultural] things, it’s almost like they end up taking a back seat.

So, in the long run, I see a huge benefit in having opportunities for the guys like this, Or for us so that we can relate to them better. But …. Yeah, it’s a struggle. There’s always on my caseload, you know, a handful of guys that are dealing with a crisis every day.

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Theme Nine: Guardian

Protocols It was identified that a challenge for housing participants to participate in cultural activities is the ability to observe protocols. The inability to adhere to protocols, such as maintaining sobriety for a certain amount of time, may serve to exclude housing participants from taking part in cultural activities. It is important to note that, while all Elders are different and have their own ways of applying protocols, the understanding that people will not be welcomed if they are not able to observe the protocols may be limited to the experiences of a few research participants; for others it has not been the case and those experiencing addictions have been welcomed to participate in ceremony in a modified way. This discrepancy speaks to the importance of working with Elders that understand the unique needs of the housing participants and cultural helpers that can facilitate the process of negotiating such differences.

I can’t suggest, “hey, maybe you should go to a sweat”, because typically you have to be clean and sober to do that. And … talking with someone, who’s in active addiction about going to a sweat, When I know damn well that they can’t go, and they know that they can’t go, Would impede on developing a relationship with them.

Not being able to participate in cultural activities may lead to a situation where housing participants feel ashamed.

It’s hard … … it, it can become shaming. Like, as much as it’s positive, it can become shaming, Because you know, if you’re in active addiction, there are certain things you can’t do.

It is important to acknowledge that respecting protocols is a sign of deep reverence for culture and a person’s decision to participate or not participate in an activity should be respected and supported.

So, what I’ve learned about my clients is kind of respect … that they know themselves … And they know themselves and their culture. And that if they’re saying that they can’t do that, Or they’re saying they can do it, they mean that. And that for me as an outsider, totally understanding that at that point.

Cause a lot [of participants] I have right now, they have such a deep respect for the culture, That if they’re using, they won’t go near it, but they still want their home smudged. So that’s where I can come in and … Then that also helps further develop our rapport.

It was acknowledged as a caution that suggesting cultural activities to someone who believes they are unable to attend can damage the helping relationship.

Because then I’m just doing the same shit that everyone else is telling them to do. Which is, in their mind, impossible at that time. So, it’s gonna…It’s gonna hinder building a rapport or relationships with someone.

And finally, it was suggested that the Indigenous Cultural Helper can be of assistance in situations where people are hoping to participate in cultural activities but worried about respecting protocols.

It kind of gets a little muddy trying to introduce culture in that, Being that when someone has a high amount of respect for it, they don’t want to participate at all. But that’s where Ken I found has helped a lot. Just cause a lot of people put culture up on the pedestal, And you know, “I’m not good enough for that, I can’t do that”. And Ken has really kind of encouraged them.

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Theme Ten: Guidance Workers’ Challenges to Integrating Spirituality and Culture into Housing Work Guidance and support are required to ensure workers are able to work around challenges towards an integrated practice.

Through the course of the interviews, research participants identified some of the challenges that existed for them to integrate their learning with their practice. The challenges identified are described in this section.

Colonialism Historical and contemporary colonialism play a significant role in housing support work. First, it was noted that housing support workers represent the housing system and our modern systems are colonial in nature. Building trust as a representative of such a system is challenging, particularly when many Indigenous housing participants have been disappointed by systems that have not served them in the past.

Because of the history of abuse, homelessness, addictions, mental health, All of that had a huge impact, on building trust with the people. And, from that marginalized group, it takes time to build trust.

It’s just as Follow-Up Support Workers, We’re tasked with trying to re-introduce culture and spirituality after a dark, dark period of colonization. It’s not an easy feat. So, it’s kind of like, partly a mistrust of systems in general, but also in providers. So, here’s another provider, providing something else, well why should I trust that? For me it was, yes, you are offering that as an option to the people who are suffering, But the system has failed so many times to provide, so why would they take something from you right now? And even try to heal with something that is helpful?

Other research participants shared that they felt keenly aware of their own whiteness, or position as an “outsider” when engaging in some cultural activities, particularly those that took them out of the city and onto reserves.

So, there’s little bit, there was a bit of like apprehension, I think on a few of our parts, Because we were going into someone else’s space, going into, you know, their space. And I just remember driving into town, like the town, the main road there and just, like, Such a presence or such an awareness that you don’t belong there. And, like, aware of my own whiteness. Like, yeah it was really awkward.

Finally, one research participant who was hesitant to participate in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities expressed their concern that in some such trainings, very superficial versions of culture are shared. Their worry speaks to a larger concern about sharing cultures in a tokenizing way and potentially appropriating Indigenous culture, which has been referred to as a contemporary form of colonization (Baskin, 2009).

I was thinking, okay whenever they, you know, we talk about cultural experiences, I was trying to figure out, why do I get upset? Because it’s always only the food, and the clothing, you know, that people wear? And, to me, culture, I think, to me, is more profound than that. That is the most basic thing that you can relate it to a culture. To me, these things are a little bit too superficial for the reality that the Indigenous genocide exists.

Although this concern was not shared in relation to the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program, it is an important caution.

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Theme Ten: Guidance

Internalized oppression Connected to the history of colonization is the concept of internalized oppression. Internalized oppression is when lack of strong sense of identity results in a situation where people internalize the stereotypes and oppressive messages they hear about themselves, and as a result become complicit in reproducing their own oppression. They may blame themselves for their own situation and may consider it unique to them, permanent, and deserved (Mullaly, 2010). Research participants noted that for some of the housing participants, it was difficult to accept that they were deserving of participating in cultural activities when offered. As well, at times the shame that housing participants feel related to their Indigenous identity and culture can taint early cultural experiences, decreasing the likelihood of them continuing to attend. Support can be important for both support workers and housing participants to work through some of these complex dynamics.

That is, that is hard. So, in our relationship with the clients, It’s not only how much we know and how much we are trying to integrate, It’s how much they are ready to take that and believe, you know?

I think there was a rejection to some degree from people to receive supports. Or maybe they didn’t think that they, they deserve the supports, you know?

Cause for a lot of them, they’ve had such barriers to accessing services, They’ve had the rug pulled out from them so many times. You can’t just say, “Bent Arrow’s got drum making at 2:00pm Saturday, here’s the address if you wanna go”. They’re not going to go.

Acknowledging the role that internalized oppression can play is key and speaks to the need to revisit conversations about introducing cultural activities into case plans. If they want to connect with someone, if they’re not quite ready yet,

Just having that conversation and then always revisiting it. So, so for them to find a light, in, even in grim moments, to me that’s important.

And, and how am I going to highlight their strength, That’s a challenge every day, how am I going to say it differently that these people are going to be able to hear it. Because maybe they don’t believe it themselves in the moment. So really slowing down that with them, so…. I think attending activities and just and hearing about when… Hearing about what’s happened in the past, just realizing yeah, there’s different factors to it. It’s not just, you know, you came from a shitty home and you know…? You’re trying to break the cycle. There’s more to it, so…yeah.

Because you’re offering something tangible already. You have the program that can provide those sweat lodges but people are not ready, right?

I’ve seen the, I’ve seen the… It was sad, it was sad, quite sad. You know?

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Theme Ten: Guidance

Balancing Priorities Balancing priorities and expectations in the work was noted by many as an ongoing struggle. Some research participants expressed they felt pressure to meet certain milestones in their work that, when prioritized, meant they were both unable take part in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities themselves and also less able to facilitate the (re)connection to culture for the housing participants they work with.

Yeah, I would have gone fungus picking and those other things with them, But then, my family’s going to be waiting without a home.

And …. my focus was just serving the people, doing what I needed to do. There’s a lot of pressure from Homeward Trust, to, you know, have things done. And you’ve got a time line. And you, you’re dealing with crisis management almost weekly… So, I opted out of every single event last year.

It’s that the pressures…From doing things … Like a person’s rent needs to be paid otherwise there’s consequences. Unfortunately, that’s the way it works. So, you can 100% say, “I’m going to work at this person’s pace,” Like it’s that, “gonna work where they’re totally at,” But sometimes things need to be done and that’s like frustrating.

While it is likely not a surprise that research participants identified balancing priorities as an ongoing challenge, as we know the work is very busy, it may be useful to look at how time is invested and whether long-term outcomes improve as a result of a short-term time investment.

It’s hard to manage the time, but I always thought and think that it is time well spent. Yes, it was just time well spent. And if it’s not gonna cause an eviction and I think it’s worth it. So, if it means spending half day going for a sweat and that’s going to make my participant open to, To going in to treatment, I think that’s, that’s…time well spent. And I think I look at it long-term. So, when I’m not there, they’re able to do it, on their own. And long-term, there will be no eviction, because they know they can always bounce back. Okay, if there’s things that are happening, “Okay, who do I bounce back to?” As opposed to just, “okay, it’s [my worker].”

The Challenge of Paperwork Also, perhaps not surprisingly, paperwork was specifically noted as a challenge for housing support workers, both in terms of the amount, but also in terms of how the tools utilized did not always support the goal of integrating culture with practice.

Oh, I think it’s a contradiction because it’s so…. I call it contradiction because it’s in one way you try to incorporate that, But the paper work is asking you for different things. Yeah, you have to complete a form, you know? That asks, that asks different questions but…. But at the same time, it’s, you know, When you are looking at that, it’s not asking…it’s very medical, a yes and a no.

So, it, like when my guys talk about it with me, whether we’re doing a crisis plan, Or … we have a section on our assessments about abuse and trauma. Just a small one out of 14 sections. But when they say like, “I don’t remember the first 4 years of residential school.” So, instead of me just jotting that down and just moving onto the next thing, I kind of get more of a sense to where they are coming from.

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Theme Ten: Guidance

What is Valued in Housing Support Work Some research participants identified feelings of discomfort or unsettledness arising from tensions in the work. Tensions identified arose from the disconnect between how success in the work is measured (and what is valued) and what they were seeing as being truly transformational aspects of the work. The disconnect is reflective of the dichotomy that exists between Western and Indigenous worldviews: Western ideas about performance management don’t necessarily support integrating culture with housing practice.

All this performance target stuff and everything, it doesn’t capture the relational side of things. And I don’t know how much you can even get around it from using a Western perspective of processes. There’s got to be a way, but there’s just so much paper! And numbers involved in the work we’re doing that the … It’s the way that we’re doing it now is through relationships.

I wish it would be weighted, the spiritual activities, would be weighted, As heavily as the Westernized interventions. Very much so. Like, if we have to spend four hours with one participant, To go to probation, go to mental health diversion, then go to the doctor, that’s fine. But if we want to spend four hours and go out medicine picking, it’s not fine. And accepting that some people don’t want to go the medication route. That’s probably the biggest barrier right now that I’m finding. So, that’s where it becomes really difficult because … we are operating in a very administrative capacity a lot of the time. Because [we are] so focused on … maximizing housings that it becomes difficult to…to integrate sometimes.

Housing Timelines In addition to the challenge of finding time to do everything that needs to be done in a day AND participate in cultural activities, research participants also spoke about how timelines in the work didn’t always support the housing participants’ healing processes. Research participants spoke about the policies of dismissing housing participants after thirty days without contact or three missed appointments, and the six-month and one-year timeframes for support and acknowledged that such policies don’t always take into account all that may be happening for people.

I can think of an individual now, where we were working at her pace, and she has a looming eviction.

And she had lots of time, a few months for the eviction, so there was lots of time. We’ve been working at her pace, which has been quite slow, And the eviction now is next week. And she … the potential of getting evicted into homelessness is quite real.

There’s a certain point where I have to dismiss them from the program. So, there’s the 30-day window if there’s not contact, we have to dismiss them. I feel like having that stronger rapport with the person … So, I’ll know more what they’re struggling with and maybe that’s why they’re avoiding. Because if I didn’t know what they were dealing with, I would just think that they just didn’t want to have a worker and they just didn’t want to engage. I think it might take longer to reach that goal, but I believe that the outcome will be even greater. Than putting a person in a six-month bracket or a one-year bracket, you know? And then you know, “okay, you are ready?”

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Theme Ten: Guidance

Other challenges Other challenges noted by research participants related to the participation in cultural activities, and the integration of culture with their practice or the practice of their team members were: • personal limitations such as allergies to smoke; • the beliefs that Indigenous cultural practices are incongruent with personal religious practices; and, • not all members of the team, due to their unique roles, have equal opportunity to participate in Indigenous Cultural Helper

Program activities, which means that they do not necessarily have the same tools for speaking about culture with the housing participants. This can mean that the conversation doesn’t start until the housing participant is already housed. For some this is a missed opportunity to integrate culture with the process of becoming housed.

Support to Integrate Learnings into Housing Support Work The challenges identified speak to the importance of having support to integrate new information into housing support practice.

Several of the research participants specifically mentioned that they felt grateful to have had such accommodating, welcoming and patient teachers who really supported their learning.

They’re, very good people, they’re very open and understanding that we’re willing to learn, And spending time and teaching us, more, even though we have dumb questions that we ask. But explaining to us how and why things are done, the way it is done.

Research participants identified how valuable having the opportunity to debrief as part of activities was to them.

I had an opportunity to debrief over… they make stew. It was delicious and … bannock. And so, we just sat and chatted, and debriefed and just learned from each other, and talked to each other. And I thought that was really important as well. So, you obviously do the sweat, And that’s really intense and really like different from anything I’ve ever experienced. So just to sit down with food, which is comforting, And to talk, I thought that was helpful.

Further, they noted the importance of having formal ongoing opportunities to assist in processing and integrating what they were learning.

And then, Ken’s role too. Typically, each season he’ll come to meet with our team, and, just chat about, you know, “What are the things you guys have been doing in the past few months? What are the barriers you’re having?” Things like that, just being able to break it down with him, updating our practices. So, a worker can, can actually process and think about that, And then figure out a way how am I going to integrate that into my work, into my life.

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Recommendations Based on their experience with the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program and their experience in general, research participants offered a number of recommendations:

1. Several research participants supported the creation of an Indigenous Wellness Centre where housing participants could seek additional, readily accessible cultural supports. It was recommended that such a wellness centre would be barrier-free; people should be able to access the support when they require it and regardless of whether they are sober or not. This recommendation is in line with End Poverty Edmonton’s Action #1 to design and plan an Indigenous Culture and Wellness Centre (ICWCYEG, “The Journey Begins,” n.d.).

2. Retreats for staff groups to learn about culture as teams would be a welcomed learning opportunity but also an opportunity for team-building.

3. While research participants valued the support they did get from their teams and from their management, they also acknowledged that there were limits to their ability to participate in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities and that, at times, other work functions had to be prioritized. While very understanding of the constraints within which they work, some research participants were hopeful that they would be supported to learn more from the program in the future. They also expressed their hopes that they would be permitted to support more housing participants to attend in a deliberate way.

4. It was acknowledged that the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program consists of only one staff member and suggested that more resources, and an expansion of the program would be welcomed. One research participant advocated for each Housing First organization to have access to their own cultural helper who could work closely with their team on an ongoing basis.

5. As identified, a housing participant’s experience with (re)connecting to their culture can be significantly impacted by their landlord. It was suggested that Homeward Trust could explore having a cultural resource person, or an arm of the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program, that could be available for landlords interested in learning more about housing Indigenous tenants.

6. One limitation noted was that some team members, due to the nature of their roles, have more capacity to participate in Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities. For instance, Housing Outreach Workers often do not have the time to attend as their focus is housing people and not supporting people in an ongoing way. Some research participants felt that it was important to ensure ALL team members be supported to attend activities; they believe that the conversation about culture should happen at the very onset of a housing participant’s engagement with Housing First to ensure it is integrated with housing from the very beginning, creating a strong foundation upon which to build housing success.

7. A suggestion was made that consideration be given to how to deliver some of the teachings in alternative formats, such as monthly films or presentations. It was suggested that alternative delivery options may be more accessible to some workers, who were unable or hesitant to attend cultural activities for whatever reason. While it is perhaps a question to explore, it is evident that the experiential aspect of this program is a big factor in its appeal, and largely responsible for the increase in confidence that research participants experienced.

8. It was discussed by some that the engagement of leadership is key to successfully integrating aspects of culture into practice. Strategies identified here were a) encouraging senior leadership to (continue to) participate in cultural activities alongside housing support workers as a way of role-modelling and demonstrating that this part of the practice is vital, and b) developing, or continuing to develop, Indigenous leadership within organizations.

9. Housing participants were considered by many research participants to be a great source of knowledge and expertise (cultural and otherwise) and research participants noted the pride and honour housing participants felt when able to share that knowledge. It was recommended that Homeward Trust consider ways to facilitate the further sharing of this knowledge with housing support workers and other housing participants. One specific example provided was a mentorship program matching successfully housed participants with new housing participants.

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Recommendations Additionally, based on my conversations with the research participants, I respectfully offer the following suggestions for further exploration:

10. Several research participants spoke about how they had the good fortune to attend Indigenous Cultural Helper Program activities along with the housing participants they work with. Experiences described tended to have significant value. Whether it was the opportunity to see the housing participants in a different light, reduce the distance and power differences between “worker” and “participant”, engage participants differently in their own housing journey, or to deepen their relationships, participating together and sharing learning felt transformative. It may be interesting to explore how these shared experiences impact the helping relationship and if the transformed relationship has the potential to generate improved (emancipatory) housing outcomes. It will be important to consider how this practice is supported moving forward. In the words of one of the research participants, “the work we do demands a new kind of ingenuity, a new kind of solving problems. The work that we do will always look unfinished. It is still being molded and shaped, like clay in a potter’s hands. In the work we do we are both the clay and the hands. More hands come at different times to mold the clay. We need to find ways how participants and workers will take the next step, as we learn more and reflect about it. How can we work in critical issues of our time, how can the people we are working with be participants of that change?”

11. Further research into the connection between the practice of integrating elements of culture and spirituality with housing practice and positive housing outcomes seems to be a logical next step. Establishing integrated, wholistic housing practice as an evidence-based practice will give credence to those who wish to implement such a practice in a systematic way. Further, intentionally gathering data that demonstrates the connection between such a practice and positive housing outcomes will help with making a business case for the sustainability or even expansion of the program. Finally, this exploration could lead to a more wholistic approach to defining, assessing and evaluating housing outcomes for Indigenous housing participants.

12. Given the high degree of burnout, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in homeless sector workers (Waegemakers Schiff & Lane, 2016) and the significant impact that participation in the Indigenous Cultural Helper Program had on research participants’ well-being, it is worth exploring this connection further.

The impacts of poor mental health are far-reaching and can result in significant costs (financial and otherwise) for organizations and their employees, including decreased job satisfaction, higher absenteeism, reduced output when workers are at work (presenteeism), higher turnover (and therefore higher training expenses for new employees), negative pressure on other employees and corporate culture and higher supplemental health insurance expenses (The Conference Board of Canada, 2012). Further, such impacts will have attendant consequences for housing participants and the quality of the service they receive. It is important for organizations to be creative and think of ways in which their workers can be better supported.

As it appears to be the case that through participation in this program, workers are provided with tools to buffer from the negative aspects of their work, encouraging wide-scale participation could lead to a healthier, more socially sustainable work force, which will ostensibly have positive impacts for housing participants and the Housing First organizations.

13. Consider exploring tools that may assist workers with specifically assessing for culture and spirituality as a resource. Baskin (2016) recommends the use of spiritual genograms, while Wendt and Gone (2016) point to the DSM Cultural Formulation Interview as a more clinical tool. View this tool: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwj31Iyc-bjeAhWCGDQIHag2CgIQFjAAegQIABAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.psychiatry.org%2FFile%2520Library%2FPsychiatrists%2FPractice%2FDSM%2FAPA_DSM5_Cultural-Formulation-Interview.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0yl4EMDbxmpSbT2uVcJfOL

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Recommendations 14. As many of the research participants spoke about the importance of having a venue to debrief their experiences with the

Indigenous Cultural Helper Program (and in fact several specifically stated that they appreciated the opportunity to do this in the research interviews) it may be advantageous to support the creation of a kind of Community of Practice where those workers engaged in the process of integrating their work, regardless of their progress, could connect with other workers for support. My recommendation would be that this Community of Practice, if adopted, would be across roles and across organizations. I feel such a Community of Practice could greatly contribute to the refinement of the practice and to further learning. Additionally, it would be another way of supporting workers in a practice that benefits both the housing participants and the housing support workers themselves.

15. It was apparent through the interviews that Housing First organizations approached integrated practice to different degrees

and perhaps with unique constraints. Within those organizations, it appears individual workers also approached integrated practice with differing levels of interest, ability and/or considerations and limitations. If integrating culture with practice is something that Homeward Trust hopes to prioritize, the creation of a framework that can be adopted by all Housing First organizations will be crucial to ensure that this work is done consistently and in a way that respects Indigenous cultures and individual differences.

As a place to start, Wendt and Gone (2016) describe a clinical integrated practice framework that may be adaptable to the housing support context; their framework includes: a) allowing for divergent therapeutic dynamics, or ways of interacting with people, b) expansive therapeutic agents both human and otherwise (eg. nature), c) supporting people to think critically about, and when possible reject the use of, medication, and, d) including spirituality in practice.

It will be crucial in the generation of such a framework to consider the key role that the Indigenous Cultural Helper plays. Many participants spoke about how key the current cultural helper is to the success of the program and how important it is that he is confident, resilient and well-supported himself. Further, this Indigenous Cultural Helper possesses the communication skills necessary to negotiate effectively and respectfully with and support both front line housing support workers and their managers.

The successful implementation of an integrated practice framework will require a competent advocate and representative who can promote the program and make the necessary connections with Elders and other cultural helpers that will support the work. Attention should be paid to the qualities and characteristics that will be important in future Indigenous Cultural Helpers.

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