Indigenous Residential Schools in Canada with Audrey Armstrong

Facilitating Voices: An Outlet Podcast

Haili sits down with Audrey Armstrong Audrey was born & raised in Saskatchewan, Canada. She is a 39 year old First Nation woman and grew up with culture and tradition, but also around poverty & addiction. Audrey has a complicated family, she has a Cree mother and an English father, with siblings from both sides. She grew up with 5 other siblings from her mother & didn’t know her siblings from her fathers side until much older. She has overcome many obstacles in her life to get to where she is at today, she has been able to accomplish post-secondary schooling and is only the 2nd person in her family to graduate both high school and university. Audrey was a teen parent at 16 years old and had her 2 year old go to high school graduation with her. She is now a proud mom of 3 boys whom she has managed to raise alone as a single mother, work and get a university education – all at the same time! Today, Audrey has an amazing partner in life and 4 stepkids, along with her own 3 – two if which are adults. She is also a grandmother of 1 beautiful baby girl. Audrey chose social work because of her own personal experiences growing up in poverty, around addiction, mental health and because of her experiences as a teen parent. Audrey chose the advocacy aspect of social work and has been in the human services field for the last ten years. Audrey is big on volunteering and spends many of her out of work hours volunteering. Audrey is also a First Nation artist, she paints, sews & beads as a form of self care, because as social workers we need to ensure self care & these activities help to keep her grounded along with practicing her First Nation culture and spirituality.