RICHMOND, Ky. — After fighting a battle with addiction for years, Cory Cooper went to the St. John Recovery Center where he got the help he needed to turn his life around.

What You Need To Know

  • Cory Cooper struggled with addiction since he was 18 years old, which eventually led him to experience homelessness

  • He went to the St. John Recovery center to get help with turning his life around

  • While going through the St. John Recovery program, Cooper had to serve time in jail for previous crimes he had committed. He stayed sober throughout the six months he was in jail and completed the center’s program

  • Cooper currently works full time and teaches kids how to skate. He has been jam skating since he was a teenager

Life was challenging for Cooper when he was growing up. His parents battled addiction, and he was raised by his grandparents. He lost both his father and grandfather when he was 18, and that’s when Cooper struggled with addiction.

“Instead of talking to a counselor, instead of reaching out, instead of going to a meeting and, you know, just saying that ‘I need help,’ instead, I just continued to go down that disastrous route,” Cooper said.

That path eventually led him to experience homelessness in Lexington. With nowhere to turn, he called Mike and Pamela Marie St. John, who run St. John Recovery LLC. The behavioral health counseling center has structured recovery homes for people to stay in while going through their program.

Pamela Marie picked Cooper up from the Hope Center and had him FaceTime Mike.

“I seen the desperation in his eyes, I seen the pain, but I also seen the fight and he said, ‘Mike, I’m ready. Please help me,’ and I said, ‘You get in that car and you put your seat belt on and you get to Richmond,’ and he got in that car and he came to Richmond,” Mike said.

On April 16, 2023, Cooper arrived at the St. John Recovery Center. He was going through the program and doing well, but his past caught up with him and he ended up spending six months in jail. During that time, he maintained his sobriety.

“I went to meetings in jail, voluntarily, I went to church in jail and I actually went ahead and did the substance abuse program,” Cooper said.

Cooper has since completed the St. John Recovery program while attending AA meetings at the Dry Dock.

“To see him go from death to life, to see him go from neutral to drive, to see him go from numb to shine is why we do what we do,” Mike said.

Now Cooper works full time, gives testimonies about his recovery journey, and teaches kids how to skate.

Cory Cooper poses with his skates in front of the nonprofit Enrich's building. He got his current job through a job fair that Enrich held. (Spectrum News 1/Geraldine Torrellas)

“I like to go out and I like to teach kids,” Cooper said. “I like to be involved and, you know, that’s my main mission. You know, that’s what I feel like that my calling is.”

Jam skating has been a passion of his since he was a teenager. It’s a skating style that combines dance and gymnastics. 

“I went to multiple competitions and eventually at the age of 16 I got sponsored by a company and traveled all up and down the East Coast,” Cooper said.

He has been a contestant on America’s Got Talent twice and has a TikTok dedicated to his hobby.

Now Cooper has aspirations to follow in the footsteps of Pamela Marie and Mike and eventually work in recovery himself.

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