International House of Rhode Island – Rooke Fund

When Robert L. Rooke, an early limited partner of Merrill Lynch, saw how hard his daughter, Dotty McCulloch, was working to help advance a community center for international visitors to Rhode Island, he surprised her by donating the funds to complete the purchase of the International House of Rhode Island’s (IHRI) current home on Stimson Avenue in Providence from Brown University in 1986. Later by bequests he and his wife created a permanent endowment subsequently added to by Dotty and her husband, Norman “Sandy” McCulloch (former chairman of The Rhode Island Foundation board of directors), to provide operating support in perpetuity to the organization. The Rooke fund bears witness to Mr. Rooke’s commitment to sharing his investment success with others through philanthropy.

But purchasing the house was just the beginning. Mrs. McCulloch describes a state of “terrible disrepair” and exclaims, “One chimney blew down to the parking lot and the windows would not open!” She recalls that at her first board meeting a hat was passed to help pay the electric bill. Her Christmas gift one year from Sandy was an enlarged paved parking lot. During her tenure as board chair from 1986 to 2008 Mrs. McCulloch led fundraising efforts that raised almost one half million dollars from foundations and many others committed to IHRI and the restoration of the historic house.

Today international visitors, primarily graduate students, faculty members, and their families from Brown, RISD, and Johnson & Wales from upwards of 90 foreign countries make constant use of IHRI programs and resources. More than 200 volunteers assist new visitors with advice on housing, access to social services, transportation, and more. A host family program links students with local families and IHRI offers ESL and foreign language classes, pot-luck lunches, ethnic-themed dinners and lectures, field trips, and a grand Thanksgiving dinner.

Mrs. McCulloch notes, “Our goal is to foster international understanding and friendship. It works both ways – visitors return to their countries with a warmer appreciation of their stay in RI, and we gain greater appreciation of their traditions.”

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