Cooper Charitable Foundation

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Cooper Charitable Foundation

The Cooper Charitable Foundation was created to improve people's lives through a housing stability grant.

We partner with other non-profit organizations to help people secure housing.

09/07/2026

From all of us at the Cooper Foundation, Happy Labor Day!
Thank you to everyone whose work helps shape our world.

09/03/2026

What if the most important legacy we leave is simply how we made someone feel safe? For our founder John Cooper, that person was his grandmother, Mozelle.

She didn't have great wealth. She lived on Social Security. She grew vegetables in her garden and shared them with others. She made cakes for friends and neighbors. Her door was always open to people who needed somewhere to go.

And during a childhood that could often feel frightening and uncertain, she gave John something even more important: Safety.

Years later, John created the Cooper Charitable Foundation in her honor because he wanted the way she lived to continue.

In his newly released TEDxRaleigh talk, The Kindness We Pass On, John shares Mozelle's story and something he has come to understand more deeply: The Foundation itself isn't Mozelle's legacy. Her legacy lives every time the kindness she gave one child is passed from that child to someone else.

Today, we're proud to share the story behind why we exist.

Who was the person in your life who made you feel safe, seen or cared for when you needed it most?

Watch John Cooper's TEDxRaleigh talk, The Kindness We Pass On, at the link in our bio.

08/27/2026

Working two jobs is hard enough. Doing it while raising three children on your own is harder still.

Ernestine had been managing to pay her bills, receiving help from a rental assistance program that paid part of her monthly rent. When that assistance ended, her rent became unaffordable. And every dollar she could have saved for a new apartment was already going toward staying in her current one.

That's where Cooper Foundation stepped in. Working with Oak City Cares, we covered her security deposit and a portion of her rent, a one-time investment that gave her the room to secure a new home that was more affordable.

Ernestine still works two jobs. Her children still go to school. What's changed is the ground under them. It's stable now.

Support our work at cooperfoundation.com.

08/18/2026

The Cooper Charitable Foundation last year made a $10,000 donation to The Green Chair Project. While we primarily provide housing stability grants to get people into housing or prevent them from losing their housing, we also recognize that a house is not a home without essential furniture and beds for family members.

To that end, we helped Green Chair provide beds and furniture to to 22 households, making a house a home for 25 adults and 33 children. One mom we helped was ecstatic because she has two small children but only had a single mattress and one crib for her youngest. Another mother of five can now rest assured that her children have a safe and secure place to rest their heads and get a good night's sleep, thanks to the Sweeter Dreams program.

The Cooper Foundation was honored to once again support Green Chair with another $10,000 grant, supporting the incredible work they do in our community. The organization is striving to serve 1,300 households this year -- and we are proud of what they have accomplished for our neighbors in need. Working in partnership, our community can do great things.

08/04/2026

Stability doesn't always move in a straight line.

In 2023, Kerry-Ann and her son moved from an emergency shelter program into a stable home of their own. It was a fresh start they had worked hard to reach.

Then, within the same short window, a required repair paused her rental subsidy, and she lost a home health care client, taking her income with it. For two months, she couldn't cover the full cost of rent.

Her income has since returned. The repairs are complete. And with a housing stability grant through the Cooper Foundation, working alongside Family Promise of the Triangle, Kerry-Ann's past due rent was covered so she and her son could stay in the home they'd already built a life in.

Housing stability isn't only about staying in a home. It's about having the room to recover when life doesn't go as planned.

07/28/2026

JR was assaulted, and the injuries left her with a concussion serious enough that she couldn't return to work. Without a paycheck, she quickly fell behind on rent.

She did what she could to make it right. She asked her landlord about a payment plan. She asked about moving to a different unit she could better afford while she recovered. Both requests were denied.

Facing eviction on top of everything else, Cooper Charitable Foundation worked alongside Oak City Cares to provide JR with a $2,835 grant, covering her rent for June and July and giving her the time and stability to recover without losing her home in the process.

Housing stability isn't just about paying a bill. For JR, it meant one less thing to fight for during a time when she needed to focus on healing.

07/21/2026

Jasmin was driving with her two children, ages 7 and 9, when an uninsured driver hit them head on. The crash totaled her car and left her with injuries that kept her out of work for six weeks.

Her doctor advised more time to recover. Bills didn't allow for it. Jasmin went back to work part time anyway, determined to keep her family's household steady.he put $638 toward the rent she'd fallen behind on. Then came the notice: the remaining $1,681 had to be paid immediately, or she would face eviction.

Working alongside Oak City Cares, Cooper Charitable Foundation provided a grant to cover that balance, keeping Jasmin and her children in their home. She's continued her recovery while returning to her work as a medical assistant, rebuilding steadily instead of starting over.
Learn more about our work at cooperfoundation.com.

07/16/2026

Housing instability often isn't about a lack of effort. It's about a gap. A deposit that's just out of reach. A bill that arrived at the wrong time. A month that needed bridging.

This year, $349,342 in Cooper Charitable Foundation grants helped close those gaps for people working toward stable housing.

Learn more and help make a difference at cooperfoundation.com

07/14/2026

Mr. D has worked steadily for eight years. During that same stretch, he didn't have a stable place to live, moving between emergency shelters, staying with family and friends, and at times sleeping outside.

He's now a maintenance professional at a general contracting firm, and he recently found a shared housing opportunity that offered a real pathway to stability. Cooper Charitable Foundation, in partnership with Oak City Cares, was able to cover his security deposit and first month's rent.

It's a reminder that having a job doesn't always mean having a home, and that sometimes the barrier standing between someone and stability is one that can be solved.

07/07/2026

A new key means more than access to a space. It means stability, consistency, and the chance to move forward.

The Cooper Charitable Foundation works alongside local partners to help cover the financial barriers that keep people from getting there. Security deposits, first month's rent, utility assistance. The practical support that turns a house into a home.

Learn more about the work at cooperfoundation.com.

Address

333 Fayetteville Street, Suite 1450
Raleigh, NC
27601

Telephone

+19198254002

Website

http://www.cooperfoundation.com/

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