Stephanie Francis has always been the kind of person who never hesitated to help those in need. Spending years mentoring and counselling Indigenous youth, she knew her future involved supporting all Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island in a bigger capacity, lifting them up through trauma-informed care.
Originally from Elsipogtog First Nation, now living in Sitansisk (St. Mary’s) First Nation, Stephanie had a dream of one day owning a trauma-informed healing lodge, but she needed help to focus. Stephanie decided to apply for JEDI’s incubator program to hone in on her business, Spirit First Counselling & Consulting, thinking “I can make a business out of doing this. It’s helping more people.”
Spirit First Counselling & Consulting focuses on trauma-informed care. Stephanie’s trauma-informed care workshop is designed to help service providers deliver better care for people who are affected by trauma, while protecting themselves too. Stephanie specializes in supporting Indigenous Peoples with the collective trauma experienced from colonization, using her own lived experience to better connect to people. With her workshop, she “gives you the tools to help you understand and create awareness about what trauma is, and what it isn’t.” Stephanie also talks about the biology and physiological reactions humans have to trauma, and the importance of spirituality, ceremony, and developing your prayer when healing trauma.
With this workshop, Stephanie is able to help fill a gap in the current healthcare system. The current care available for Indigenous Peoples is not trauma-informed or culturally competent. On top of not understanding the physical, mental, and spiritual effects colonization has on Indigenous Peoples, non-Indigenous care providers are also unfamiliar with Indigenous medicines and ceremonies that are sacred to the culture. The current system is “not meeting people where they’re at,” Stephanie says.
So far Stephanie has seen a huge demand for Spirit First Counselling & Consulting and her trauma-informed care workshop. She has been delivering this workshop to Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations and groups across the Wabanaki Territories, the JEDI team being one of them. One organization of 85 staff even mandates each staff member take Stephanie’s training. Due to the positive response, Stephanie is now in the process of putting her workshop in the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business (CCAB)’s Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program, where CCAB will help promote her workshop to their network.
Some additional accomplishments she’s made are collaborating with a mental health first aid trainer in Nova Scotia and making it to the National Pow Wow Pitch Semi-Finals. Stephanie shares how much JEDI’s Incubator helped her with her business, saying how the JEDI facilitators, staff and participants played a vital role in her making it through the program and pushing his business forward. “They became my family... they came into my life at the right time; my mom was dying, and twice a week, I was still able to connect with this group.”
Stephanie knows her opportunity with this business and the urgency of needing to share this knowledge. To make sure these teachings live on, and Stephanie is able to share this trauma-informed education across Turtle Island and beyond, she plans on “building up my warriors because there’s only one of me... to mentor people to be able to do what I’m doing.” Stephanie has already hired a helper to support workshops. This will help her reach her future goals of creating a trauma-informed healing lodge, writing books, and creating online training courses.
Stephanie said, “I’m grateful for having the opportunity to participate in JEDI’s Incubator business program. The staff was flexible and accommodating. The instructors were phenomenal and completely culturally competent. They went above and beyond their scope of work to assist me in completing assignments when I struggled. One of the best components was the weekly talking circle. Life happens. And this program was there to ensure we were supported and successful. Woliwon komac.”
Stephanie’s advice to aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs is to “reach out to JEDI right now, today!” Saying that we have a beautiful group of people who are hungry to learn about culture and spirit so they can provide opportunities to Indigenous Peoples.