Books
Author Profile
Sandra E. Roussel knows what it means to rebuild from the ground up. Drawing on her own lived experience of housing instability, she founded Fresh Start Housing LLC in Richmond, Indiana — a program that has guided more than 400 participants through the journey from crisis to stability over 17 years.
What began as a practitioner’s commitment became a scholar’s inquiry. As an Ed.D. candidate in Adult and Community Education at Ball State University, Roussel developed a theoretical framework that reframes financial literacy not as a set of skills to be taught but as a consciousness to be cultivated. Her work distinguishes between crisis-time consciousness, the narrowed cognitive and emotional state that accompanies instability and planning-time consciousness, the expansive orientation that makes long-term change possible.
Reconceptualizing Financial Literacy:
A Phenomenological Framework for Crisis and Stability: Financial Literacy Reconsidered Series Volume 1
Reconceptualizing Financial Literacy is the first volume in a planned six-volume series that translates that framework into practice. Through Fresh Start Housing LLC and A Fresh Start Method, Roussel continues to develop a methodology designed to be taught, replicated, and carried forward by others who share her conviction that no learner in crisis should ever find every door closed.
- Kindle
- Language: English
- Publisher: Independently Published
- Publication date: February 13, 2026
- ASIN: B0GNJBZV95
Reconceptualizing Financial Literacy:
A Phenomenological Framework for Crisis and Stability: Financial Literacy Reconsidered Series
The Financial Literacy Reconsidered series reshapes our understanding, teaching, and assessment of financial literacy across various contexts.
Traditional financial literacy education often assumes stable planning environments and universal rationality; however, countless individuals face crisis situations where immediate survival takes precedence over long-term planning. This groundbreaking series uses phenomenological frameworks to show that financial literacy is not a single, universal idea, but a group of phenomena that depend on the situation and need different ways of teaching, testing, and helping.
Focusing on crisis-informed practice, the series introduces a novel methodology for social service delivery, adult education, and community support, emphasizing the importance of individuals’ lived experiences during times of crisis. By acknowledging that many people prioritize immediate survival over future planning, this series presents a fresh perspective that moves away from traditional interventions reliant on stable planning contexts. By integrating Continental philosophy with practical implementation, it provides scholar-practitioners with evidence-based frameworks that have demonstrated effectiveness in real-world situations, ultimately facilitating more responsive and meaningful support for those in need.
- Language: English
- Publisher: Independently published
- Publication date: February 17, 2026
- Print length: 250
- ISBN-13: 979-8248149551
- ASIN: B0GN8RX1R5
Series Structure
Each volume integrates phenomenological theory with practical implementation frameworks developed through years of practice. Books include:
- The theoretical foundations demonstrate the limitations of mainstream approaches.
- Phenomenological analysis of financial consciousness across contexts
- Operational frameworks with implementation guidance
- Evidence from real-world implementations
- Assessment methodologies measure transformation beyond knowledge.
- Replication guides for diverse organizational contexts.
Sandra Roussel, founder of Fresh Start Housing and developer of the Transformative Learning Framework, serves as the series’ primary editor. Her scholarship bridges the lived experience of homelessness with theoretical sophistication, demonstrating how practitioner knowledge contributes to academic discourse when properly articulated. With 17 years of implementing crisis-informed financial literacy and doctoral training in adult and community education, Sandra ensures the series maintains both philosophical rigor and practical relevance.