Our Story
The Cooper Charitable Foundation
The Cooper Charitable Foundation was created in 2023 by John Cooper. Originally from
Hampton, Virginia, John moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1999 to attend North Carolina State University and study civil engineering. While in college, he founded Cooper Tacia General Contracting Company, a firm that he grew from doing small bathroom and kitchen remodels with his own hands to a multimillion-dollar company executing commercial, municipal, higher education, airport and industrial construction work throughout the southeastern United States. John started The Cooper Charitable Foundation with funds generated from the success of his company.
“My grandmother’s unconditional love is the most precious gift anyone has ever given me. So, I started the foundation to honor her, to continue her tradition of helping others”.
– John Cooper
In honor of Mozelle Cooper: A Message from Our Founder
My grandma, Mozelle Cooper, passed away on December 29, 2018. The idea of creating the Cooper Charitable Foundation in her memory came to me as I was writing her eulogy. She mattered to me so much and this is my way of ensuring that people remember her. She was kind, charitable and did not shy away from telling everyone that she loved them.
Grandma was a simple person. She never had a lot of material possessions. That’s not what she valued. She treasured family — and the revolving door at her house reflected that. It was not unusual to find one of her children there who was struggling and needed a place to stay. Or a grandchild she was babysitting. Or relatives and friends stopping by for a visit.
Grandma didn’t finish high school. The daughter of sharecroppers, she lived on a farm her entire life. She never had a traditional job and did not remarry after being tragically widowed at a young age. She never drove a car. Instead, she caught rides to the grocery store from family or people she knew through church. Or what I remember most. We walked … long walks to friend’s homes, where she would bring them vegetables she had grown in her huge garden or a fresh cake she made from scratch.
My grandma was my center, giving me a safe place and a home in a childhood that was chaotic and sometimes violent. Her unconditional love is the cornerstone on which all my achievements are built. And it is my mission to use this foundation to continue her legacy of love, with the goal of making other people’s lives better. Just as my grandma did for me and others.