Retired teacher helps house men in need

By Nikolai Karpinski

BELLEVILLE – Retirement comes in many forms, for 69-year-old Bob Cottrell it meant having the time to help out members of his community.

Among a number of community roles, Cottrell is the president of All-Together Housing, a non-profit organization that helps homeless men find transitional housing in the Quinte region.

The name of one such house comes from a story of Cottrell's past.

Origin story of Tom's Place from QNet News on Vimeo.

When asked about his hobbies, Cottrell says his biggest hobby is the volunteer work he's involved with. He described his favourite part of volunteering in the community as the "interaction with other people who have a common purpose, and seeing the difference you make in a persons life."

Cottrell also has a farm in Newburgh, Ont. that he "gets to when he has the time."

Cottrell was born on March 31, 1947 in Galt (Cambridge), Ont. He attended the University of Western Ontario then received his masters at the University of Toronto for teaching.

Cottrell first started teaching when he was 23 in Badalabougou, Bamako, a city in the French speaking West African country of Mali. Here he trained student-teachers to work in secondary schools. While there, Cottrell says he learned a good deal about the similarities of people. "Rich or poor, black or white, there's a common aspiration to follow a dream, whether it's raising a family, forming friendships or just doing good."

Three years later, Cottrell returned to Canada and received more teacher training. He went on to work at various schools in the Quinte region until his retirement in 2004. Teachers play an important role in society because "they make a difference in people's lives without always seeing immediate results," says Cottrell.