Reclaiming self-worth through community

Fourth-year Bachelor Social Work student Essence Wandering Spirit is building a different kind of community practice, one rooted in healing, prevention and belonging. She is a Cree, Dene and Chilean woman from Salt River First Nation, Treaty 8, and a community facilitator, consultant and founder of The Essence of Spirit. Through her business, she creates spaces where youth, women and men feel seen, supported and reminded of their strength.

Essence’s work is shaped by lived experience. Growing up around instability, she saw how much people can carry without access to meaningful support. That understanding now guides her approach to community work, which focuses less on “fixing” people and more on creating the conditions for healing, growth and self-recognition.

“I have always felt deeply called to create spaces where people feel seen, supported and reminded of their worth," she said. 

"I create relational, embodied spaces where people can genuinely engage, especially youth and adults navigating vulnerability, including housing instability, exploitation and other complex life experiences.”

Her connection to community work began early. At 15, Essence facilitated and co-ordinated programs for children with disabilities. Later, while working in community agencies, she noticed a troubling pattern: support often arrived only after trauma had taken hold. She wanted to intervene earlier with programming that emphasized prevention, regulation and self-worth.

“I was seeing such a gap for youth. Instead of meeting people in adulthood with all this trauma, let’s give them the skills now in a creative, inclusive and accessible way,” she said.

That vision became the foundation for The Essence of Spirit, which she launched in 2020. What began as an interest into creative entrepreneurship has grown into a practice grounded in trauma-informed, relational and culturally rooted approaches.

Working in community

Essence's social work field practicum at Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre helped shape her growth, deepen her commitment to relational, community-based work and show how her approach could extend beyond the classroom. She is also a member of the UM Indigenous Circle of Empowerment, a leadership program supporting students’ personal growth, professional development and community engagement.

“My field instructors gave me an opportunity to apply my ideas in real community settings. Feedback and encouragement from supervisors and leaders helped strengthen my confidence as a facilitator,” she said.

At the centre of Essence’s approach is a belief that people already carry their own wisdom.

“My role is to create the right environment, offer the right tools and make space for people to reconnect with their own strength,” she said.