ST. PAUL – A well-known face in the community is leaving the Mannawanis Native Friendship Centre (MNFC) after 15 years of being its executive director.
Hinano Rosa expressed his thanks to the community he has called home for many years. So, “It is with mixed feelings that I’m leaving.”
“I love the surrounding region that I have been honoured to work in,” he says. While there may have been some challenges, Rosa says, “We have good people here,” including those who worked so tirelessly with each other to make the St. Paul region and community a better place to live.
“I’m replaceable,” says Rosa, stating it is those good people working together and supporting the organization that will allow the MNFC to continue helping the community, which is something he is hopeful will continue into the future.
The MNFC is a local non-profit with a primary purpose on serving the needs of Indigenous people in an urban area. Some of their various programs and services include an outreach program for the vulnerable sector, aiding with treatment plans, and a youth program. The organization also connects people needing assistance to other organizations.
Rosa says part of MNFC’s mandate also includes “building relationships within the community and serving people of all races.”
This is why some of Rosa’s - and the MNFC’s core goals - include finding ways to bring different cultures in the community together.
A cultural enrichment project, for example, is in the works and Rosa is confident the project will proceed in the future.
“I ran out of time, but the project is going to go,” he says. The project is about enriching life by teaching others about Indigenous practices like hunting or smudging.
“You don’t have to be Indigenous to be enriched,” says Rosa.
“We’re all Canadians... and there is room in this space,” he says. “The Cree word for that is tawâw.”
Tawâw can also mean that even if there is little space, “You’re welcome in here because we will make room. There’s enough room for all of us,” explains Rosa, adding, it’s one of the words he was taught by Indigenous elders and people.
Learning about different cultures is just one of the reasons Rosa has enjoyed his job.
“I love my job. Even when it gets stressful,” he says. “I love when people are impacted in a positive way.”
What’s next?
Before coming to St. Paul, Rosa worked in addictions services, and was an executive director of an outpatient addiction centre in Hawaii.
While he may be leaving the MNFC, “I cannot see myself retiring,” Rosa says. He simply wishes to spend more time with his family and wife in Saskatchewan. Rosa has been driving back and forth from Saskatchewan every week to see his wife, then returning for work.
He now plans to work with several reserves in Saskatchewan to build a residential addiction treatment centre.
Finding ways for more people to access treatment services has always been one of his lifelong goals. Rosa believes that with more options available, and more space available for people to seek treatment, the better things can be.
Speaking about what is pushing him in that direction, Rosa says he understands what going through addiction is like.
“I have been clean and sober for 42 years – coming out of rehab at age 25,” says Rosa.
Something that helped him was his faith and while people’s faiths may vary, Rosa believes in humanity’s united purpose of helping fellow human beings.
“The purpose is not for us to be isolated and live on this planet... this is a temporary bus stop,” he says. “What we do... serves the glory of God and ensures us a good place.”
Life can be tough, acknowledges Rosa, but that does not mean people cannot have a good life or a good human experience.
“When we are blessed by the Creator to have a good human experience, it is only right that we share that with other human beings.”
He incorporated this faith in his job as the executive director at MNFC. Every project at the MNFC has the word Mino-pimatisiwin attached – a Cree word meaning “good life,” says Rosa.
“It sets the intent for people accessing our programs, what I would want them to have for themselves... a good life.”
Rosa did not always have a good life, referring to his addiction.
After going through rehab, it took him a decade to get back what he lost, like the respect and love of his family. At the end of the road, what awaited was peace of mind and peace of heart.
“And I’d like everyone to have the opportunity to go through that process to gain Mino-pimatisiwin.”
Replacing Rosa as executive director is Tanya Shaw, who served as the president of MNFC’s board of directors.
Rosa says he is confident of Shaw’s skills and her solid background in social work.
“There are things... pieces here that are moving forward from my time and she’s going to build on it” says Rose. Also, “I believe as a younger person, she’s bringing in new blood, new vitality, and new ideas that would assess our community and see what other deeds are needed in our community... what gaps are here to fill up to make that happen.”
