From Struggle to Strength: Selam’s Journey to Financial Empowerment
If you were to meet Selam on the street, in the office, or at a restaurant, you’d think she was a regular 30-year-old young professional – well-dressed with a bright smile and wit that keeps you on your toes. What you can’t see is how closely she brushed up against homelessness.
To understand Selam’s story, you must rewind to when she was a child growing up in Saskatoon with two East African parents. They had fled civil war, arriving in Canada with no English, no employment, and a lot of unresolved traumas. Her father handled the stress by drinking and gambling, which led to domestic violence. By the time Selam was four, she and her younger brother were being raised by a single mom with no education, no English, and no child support.
Selam grew up fast. She translated her mom’s mail, wrote rent cheques, and made sure her brother ate regular meals. She saw how recklessly her father spent money, holding it like water in his hands. On the other hand, her mother constantly stressed about money and struggled to pay rent working shift work as a janitor.
“My relationship with money was doomed from the start. I didn’t respect it, didn’t value it, didn’t appreciate it,” says Selam. These thoughts, coupled with no financial knowledge, led to poor spending habits.
At 23, Selam experienced her first eviction after spending her cheque on a cashmere sweater instead of rent. She ran away, moved to Calgary to find a retail job and continued her destructive spending cycle.
Selam was not prepared for the shock of the pandemic. She lost her job, isolated herself from friends and family, and experienced her first bout of mental illness. She was anxious, paranoid, and unable to cope.
“I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even shower, let alone find a job. It was terrifying.”
Salem’s life spiralled further when eviction notices were left under her door. She accessed medication that helped with her anxiety and suppressed her appetite so that she could save money on food. At night, she would shoplift sandwiches from the grocery store. This routine lasted a whole year.
“My head was barely above water, and I could have gone either way – up to the surface or all the way down.”
That’s when Selam walked past a poster for Momentum’s Matched Savings Program. It promised to match whatever money she saved in nine months, and she was desperate for the income.
“Momentum was my first introduction to anything ‘finances’ and it changed my whole relationship with money.”
For the first time in her life, she tracked her spending. She was shocked that she spent $1000 on take-out in one month and only $30 on groceries. She learned how to budget and what assets she could leverage for money. But most importantly, she learned how to heal her relationship with money just as she had to work to heal her relationship with her parents.
“This keeps me motivated today – breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty by sharing what I’ve learned with my mom, dad, and friends who struggle with similar experiences.”
Today, Selam has a full-time job and completed a peer support program to help empower others to change their lives. She wouldn’t even recognize her old self now.
“She was a ghost, and no one knew her struggle. Today, I am a bold, proud, and ambitious woman who no longer fears money.”
Your generosity is helping thousands of people just like Selam build new relationships with money. The millions of steps you and your colleagues took in the Trico Homes’ Hit the Pavement challenge support people living on low-income build pathways out of poverty through employment training, entrepreneurship and financial empowerment. Thank you!
To learn more about Momentum and the impact of your gift, please contact Tian Everest, Philanthropic Advisor at 403-204- 6187 or TianE@momentum.org.
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