I think back to what it was like when we got started on this journey. The subsidy that we were receiving from the federal government was decreasing year by year, to where, I believe, we got somewhere just over $100,000 or maybe $150,000 a year. That didn't do it, but we were prepared. We said that we have to do things differently. We said we can't always depend on any order of government; we have to depend on ourselves as well.
We had to do things differently, so we did. We became a part of other things in our community—other things that weren't housing. We sat on boards that were maybe arts. We became members of the chamber of commerce. We sat on that board. We became a part of the community. We felt that if we wanted other people to let us into their community, we'd better be a part of it. We asked a lot of questions, with the hopes that one day somebody was going to ask us. It happened. They started to ask us questions, and we started getting invited to events and things. They were asking where Namerind Housing was; they needed to get us to the table.
It was a long strategy, and it was a slow-moving one, but it's at the point now where we really are included in things in our community.
Most recently, the YMCA had to close down their main building in downtown Regina. We have since gotten a call from the board chair. They want to introduce us to the mayor to see what we can do and to see if we would have a need around homelessness. It just goes to show that being included and being involved in so many things really gives us all an opportunity to make our community better.
It is a challenge being an indigenous-led non-profit organization, and to have people say, “Where is Namerind Housing?” and then to get that call.... When it first started happening, I used to wonder why they were calling us. Now it's at the point where somebody will probably call us on this.
It was part of our plan.