The ARRM Cares ceremony is Thursday, May 19, 2011 in the late afternoon: at 3:45 p.m. rather than during the lunch hour (attendees will be treated to dessert). KARE-11 anchor Rena Sarigianopoulos will once again emcee the event, and as in previous years, ARRM Cares winners and nominees must register for the conference.
Winner: Melvina Rockymore
Nominator: Maureen Merrill
Agency: Wingspan Life Resources, Inc.
Renita is a 40 year old woman who has talents, a job, boyfriend, and even a B-CAT TV show of her own. One thing she did not have was a family. Her mother had died years ago, and Renita would become depressed around the holidays and on her mom’s birthday. Renita had a brother whom she had not seen in 17 years—they just lost touch. Renita would sometimes call certain staff mom or dad and called one of her housemates grandma, more in front of other people as if to point out that she had special relationships, too.
Renita is Ojibwe, but always denied being Native American. She told me she was Irish and Norwegian. Into her life a few years ago came Melvina Rockymore, first as a Direct Care Professional, then as the House Coordinator. To Melvina, family is everything, and she reasoned that the lack of one must be a very tough burden for Renita to be carrying. Over several years, Melvina worked carefully and gently with Renita on reaching out and finding her culture and family, starting by looking up Native American organizations with her on the internet. During a yearly Pow-Wow in Shakopee, the two struck up conversations and sometimes found a person who had known one of Renita’s uncles or cousins, but this usually went nowhere.
One year, however, they got information that lead to finding Renita’s Aunt Renee! Renee and Renita talked on the phone for hours at a time, rekindling memories. Aunt Renee, who lives in California, came and stayed with Renita for a week, then Renita and Melvina went to stay with Aunt Renee. The two talked frequently and Renee writes encouraging letters to Renita. Melvina was not satisfied though — Renita still had a brother out there, Howard. She helped Renita set up a Facebook page to search for him and before long, his best friend contacted Renita. Her brother, he said, was looking for her, too!So Renita and Melvina travelled to northern Minnesota. Melvina said this was the happiest day she could remember, seeing the two of them hugging, crying, and talking about when they were kids. Howard gave Renita keepsakes from their mom, and a few weeks later, let her know he had enrolled as a Tribal member, and was using documents of their mother’s to get Renita enrolled too. When asked, Renita now says "We’re Onina Ojibwe from Wisconsin." Howard was Renita’s guest for Thanksgiving in her home.
Two days before Christmas this year, I stopped by Renita’s house and saw clearly a different person than I would have seen last year. Renita was quieter, more serene. She did not make a big deal of calling me mom, but calmly invited me in and showed me a stack of gifts under their tree---one for Howard, one for Aunt Renee, one for Renee’s granddaughter, even one for Renee’s next door neighbor! This was the first time she had had a family to shop for, and she beamed.
