Leading by example

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This article was published 27/07/2020 (2153 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At 16 years old, Mitch Bourbonniere walked into Rossbrook House, looking to fulfil a volunteer credit for high school — which turned out to be a metamorphic experience.

“There’s a couple of things that changed my life. One was finding football; I’m not even a good athlete, but if you play a certain position and work really hard, you can still be good. And volunteering,” Boubonniere, now 56, said.

Volunteering at Rossbrook House snowballed into a career in community development, particularly in the North End.

Bourbonniere, a St. Vital resident, advocated for the creation of Children of the Earth High School, and helped establish the original Bear Clan Patrol in 1992.

Years spent working in a community that has had its share of complex issues prepared Bourbonniere to raise his son, who lives with schizophrenia, he said.

“I almost feel like the universe got me ready to look after him,” Bourbonniere said. “Everything prior to that got me ready to look after a son that (has) special needs. And then what it also did is it gives me an extra soft spot for folks that are out there.”

Bourbonniere’s “soft spot” is evident throughout the community, where he is easily recognizable.

“He’s just taken all that was challenging in his life, and he just seems to channel that into caring for other people,” said Phil Chiappetta, who worked with Bourbonniere at Rossbrook House.

Over the years, Bourbonniere has garnered several awards for his efforts in the community, the most recent being the Order of Manitoba, which 12 Manitobans will receive this year for their contributions to society.

“What I’ve been saying is that I really feel it’s a community award. Like, there’s so many of us doing the work and there’s so many people helping me do the work, that it’s a shared celebration, it’s not just me,” he said.

Currently, Bourbonniere works at the North End Community Renewal Corporation and Mount Carmel Clinic, but he also volunteers with Mama Bear Clan, Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatawin (O.P.K.), and Drag the Red — to name a few.

“I don’t know if there’s a person who’s made a bigger impact in our community in so many ways,” said Kevin Chief, a close friend of Bourbonniere.

“He reminds people that change is possible, that you can make a difference.”

Chief believes this so much so that he wants Bourbonniere to be the first person his nephew — who is serving time at Headingley Correctional Centre — connects with upon release.

“I know then that my nephew has a shot when he gets out,” Chief said.

After decades spent in the North End, Bourbonniere said he has observed a change within the community.

“What I think is great is there’s been a lot of grassroots initiatives (created) in the last few years,” he said. “I feel like we kind of started that kind of stuff in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, and today there’s a whole bunch of young people kind of doing the work and the community is doing the work, so I’m really happy about that.”