Liberty student awarded Red Cross Hero of the Year award for service to veterans in Niagara Falls

U.S. Army veteran John Cooper Jr. of Niagara Falls, N.Y., was recently awarded the title of Military Hero of the Year by Red Cross of Western New York for his service to his country and his dedication to serving the homeless veteran community in Niagara Falls.

Cooper, who is pursuing an M.A. in Christian Leadership through Liberty University Online Programs, served in the United States Army Infantry as a sniper section leader in the 25th Infantry and 10th Mountain Divisions, completing one combat tour of duty in Afghanistan. After serving for six years, he left the Army in 2021 and pursued seminary while doing military ministry in Watertown, N.Y., with intent to become an Army chaplain.

He and his family eventually moved back to his hometown of Niagara Falls, where Cooper became a case manager for Niagara Gospel Mission, a Christian recovery center and homeless shelter, and was eventually promoted to executive director. Under the mission’s “Recon Program” for men who are homeless and/or struggling with addiction and recovery, Cooper helps clients go through biblical counseling and classes, and provides them with food, shelter, and clothes. The clients assist with chores around the building that give them the experience and skills needed to join the tourism industry of Niagara Falls and prepares them to transition out of the shelter. The name of the program refers to its emphasis on helping the men reconcile the broken relationships in their lives and seek reconciliation with Christ.

“Our main emphasis is ‘OK, your daughter doesn’t talk to you, your brother doesn’t talk to you, how do we work on those relationships?’ Because then it can carry them further in their recovery from addiction as well,” Cooper said.

It was through working with Niagara Gospel Mission that Cooper saw the number of veterans in the community who were struggling (30 percent of the men in the program are veterans), and he realized why God brought his family back to that city.

“My situation that led me here was we lost our housing through no fault of our own. Coming into (Niagara Gospel Mission) and seeing other veterans who didn’t have a family structure that I did (it made me realize) we would’ve been on the streets, too,” he said.

The building that holds Niagara Gospel Mission had an empty room that wasn’t being used, so Cooper turned it into the start of a homeless veterans program. He provided the initial eight beds, which are now used for emergency purposes when a hospital or Veterans Affairs (VA) refers a veteran who has nowhere else to go. Today, the facility also has seven transitional housing rooms for veterans who hold jobs but have not been able to secure housing.

Cooper is expanding the ministry’s efforts by creating “Redeploy,” a supplementary program to Recon specifically for veterans that is launching next year. Veterans will receive additional PTSD and trauma counseling with a strong Gospel emphasis.

“Our saying is that if you give them food, clothing, and shelter, but don’t give them the Gospel, it’s just a more comfortable ride to hell,” he said. “We really make the Gospel emphasis a very important part of what we do and believe that (the Gospel) works because we see it work.”

As a result of his efforts in the homeless veteran community, on Oct. 25 at the Red Cross of Western New York’s Real Heroes Celebration, Cooper was presented the Military Hero of the Year award. The Real Heroes Celebration honors everyday heroes from across Western New York who have saved the life of another.

“I am very humbled to be recognized for the work the Lord is doing in Niagara Falls through the Niagara Gospel Mission,” he said. “A commitment to serving the people of my community led me to the battlefield in Afghanistan, and now that I am home, I will fight for the souls of the people here.”

Cooper said on the job, he is able to practice the lessons he is learning in his Liberty courses.

“Having someone teaching you the biblical principles and having them laid out in front of you and doing assignments on them is very, very helpful. You’re correlating what you’re doing right and doing wrong. It really helps,” he said.

One of his assignments in a leadership course had him develop a leadership plan, and during the class he applied the plan he created to his board of directors and key staff at Niagara Gospel Mission. This allowed him to see how his ideas could play out practically while still receiving feedback and guidance from professors.

“It was really helpful to actually have a grid and a format that I could use,” he said.

Cooper appreciated that Liberty challenged him to always back up his opinions and views using Scripture, which he said wasn’t the case at other schools.

“I really appreciate (Liberty) pushing you in your own assumptions and making sure you can defend them biblically, and not holding them just because that’s what the pastor you grew up with held to,” he said.

Cooper said he has an amazing team of staff at Niagara Gospel Mission who have massively contributed to helping the homeless veterans of Niagara Falls, and he emphasized that all glory goes to God for their accomplishments. He stressed that despite Niagara Falls being a tourist location, it is a “very dark, depressed” area that needs Christ.

“We firmly believe that the Gospel is what’s going to change not just people’s hearts, but an entire area, an entire city,” he said. “That’s really our message: we are rebuilding the city by rebuilding lives.”

>>November is Military Appreciation Month at Liberty. The Office of Military Affairs offers various opportunities for the Liberty community to support and honor its military students, veterans, and their families. For more information on military benefits and resources for military students, visit Liberty.edu/Military.