Dr. John Rook
Dr. John Rook, PhD is founding director of the Canadian Poverty Institute at Ambrose University in Calgary and currently is President & CEO of Simon House Recovery Centre in Calgary, which provides an innovative approach to addiction recovery incorporating multi-disciplinary techniques and therapies. He is past President and CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, was previously CEO of Potential Place, Co-Executive Director of The Alex Community Health Centre, CEO of The Salvation Army Community Services, and Director of Programs & Strategic Initiatives at The Mustard Seed in Calgary, a non-profit organization that cares for individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty. He led the expansion of the Mustard Seed into three other locations in Canada.
Dr. Rook holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, a Master of Divinity, and a Doctorate from Oxford University. He was an Associate Professor at McMaster University in Ontario, holds an adjunct faculty position at the University of Calgary, and lectures primarily in areas of poverty, mental illness, and homelessness. He brought this experience and knowledge to his role as Chair of the National Council of Welfare (2007-2012), a federal body reporting to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada proposing recommendations for improving the lives of Canadians. He was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Award in 2013.
A popular speaker at conferences, Dr. Rook tackles topics related to poverty, prosperity, and policy change, and has a talent for unraveling the theoretical. More importantly, he has a practical sense of the realities of poverty from some of his own life experiences, as well as from decades of working in the trenches.
Spending time with Dr. Rook is a distinct pleasure. We felt fortunate for this opportunity to converse with him about his life, his work, and his thoughts on some of the pressing challenges we face in our society today.
Interview by Bill Locke
Length: 27:34
Find out more about Simon House Recovery Centre at www.simonhouse.com
Fascinating interview. I was very impressed with his talking about the importance of ‘place’ – everyone needs place.
Also that people have a right to housing. Here in Ireland we have a huge housing crisis and also a very large number of homeless people sleeping on the streets. It is disgraceful that people can fall through the cracks of society and end up in tents or cardboard boxes on our streets. Simon House seems a very inclusive and comprehensive model to tackle much of our needs here.
Hi Irene, I saw your comment and was reminded of the good work of Father Sean Healy, PhD, in Dublin. He is a powerful advocate for our vulnerable friends. His work on Guaranteed Livable Income for all is impressive and hopefully can be implemented in Ireland. Place is so important and gives us security and stability. Thanks for commenting!