Patty Mainville has been the Executive Director of Rossbrook House since September 2022.
Here she shares her thoughts about the past year and the future of Rossbrook House and the children and youth that it serves.
As I reflect on the last year it has been a year of events, meeting new friends to Rossbrook House, watching as our fabulous staff keep our kids engaged which keeps them safe, witnessing our staff make connections with our participants, and a whirlwind of activities that happen here daily.
The job is so diverse that every day brings something new with so much to learn. As a lifelong learner and educator, I live by “you don’t know, what you don’t know”. This is so true with being at Rossbrook House
I have used the phrase, “open your eyes and listen”. In saying this, the learning that occurred with the children and youth at Rossbrook House has afforded me the opportunity to look at programming and spaces to move the Rossbrook House community forward.
“Looking back to when we were kids searching for a safe space to belong, is still much needed today. More so now as our communities face many challenges with the negative impacts of intergenerational effects. Our community is not always a safe one, we strive to support our community to ensure that we have a nurturing haven to welcome our children.”
Our children and youth are precious and beautiful sacred spirits who are eager to connect and take part in activities with their friends and staff. Their smiles are infectious and contagious, one cannot help but smile when you interact with them. Their questions are inquisitive and reflective.
We all strive to make connections and relationships in our lives. It is even more important for our participants to have that champion to help guide, mentor, and just be there to “open their eyes and listen.” Our staff are amazing at building these connections with our youth. I am so proud to be a part of this team effort. This team also includes our board of directors, funders, supporters, donors, and friends.
As we are looking forward to our 50th birthday in a few short years, we reviewed our archival pictures of many past participants. I see a picture of my late brother asleep on one of the old pews, (he has since passed from a drug overdose). I quickly bring myself to the present and reflect on what has changed over the last 50 years.
I look around the main hallway with children playing and others resting. Suddenly, I am flooded with ideas and excited about what the future will look like for Rossbrook House. Looking forward, I am excited to listen to our students and participants in redecorating our main hallway which will be child-centred and reflect their ideas. I look forward to implementing “Legacy Bundles” for programming so that children and youth can build skills, tools, and strategies that will enable them to lead “Minobimaatisiiwin – The Good Life”.
As a 60’s scoop and day school survivor, I have a vested interest in making sure that we implement steps of Reconciliation in everything we do. The reclaiming of culture, traditions, and languages, and implementing experiences in land-based learning will be beneficial for all. We have such a rich beautiful culture and traditions that need to be celebrated and valued. My hope is to program with purpose and impact to address the needs of our participants while giving them a safe place to belong, learn, play and become…
This past year we have had so many activities and events. The Open House last November was one of the many we celebrated. Rossbrook House awarded 18 scholarships to students in the Rossbrook House community- the most yet to have been given out. This is a true testament to the work and impact that everyone has in the lives of our participants.
We could not do the work we do without YOU!
With this I say Miigwetch,
Patty Mainville
Executive Director
Read more about Patty by clicking here.