Tony Cooper reflects on years of service to Jimmie Hale Mission

About 12 years ago, one of the men staying at the Jimmie Hale Mission knocked on Tony Cooper’s door.

Cooper, the executive director of the mission since 1990, didn’t have as much direct interaction with clients in his role at that point, but he could tell something was different about this client. Despite having a long to-do list, Cooper took time to meet with the man, who had one request: He wanted to read the Bible to Cooper.

Cooper, with 30-plus years of mission work and four years as a Southern Baptist pastor, knew the Bible well, but he could tell by the man’s face that this was important to him, so he told him to go ahead.

The man opened his Bible to John 14 and read six verses, Cooper recalled. By the time he finished, Cooper said he had “kind of figured out” why it was so important for him to read to him.

“He said, ‘Tony, the reason I wanted to read the Bible to you is because when I first came to Jimmie Hale Mission, I couldn’t read,’” Cooper said.

In 29 years at the helm of the Jimmie Hale Mission, Cooper has encountered numerous similar stories, helping men and women turn their lives around through the mission’s work. At the end of this year, Cooper will step away into retirement, ushering in a new era of the ministry in downtown Birmingham.

Cooper came to the Jimmie Hale Mission after working at Waterfront Rescue Mission in Pensacola, Florida, for 10 years. He was familiar with Jimmie Hale through regional mission meetings, and in August 1990 he made the move to Birmingham.

However, there was no “honeymoon” period for Cooper, he said. Instead, he walked into a “hornet’s nest.” When he arrived at the mission, the ministry was about $40,000 in debt and had a budget of only $350,000. In his first week, Cooper received a call from vendors asking when they could expect the mission to pay them back for their services.

“There was some concern [if] the mission was going to be able to keep its doors open,” Cooper said.

Back then, the mission didn’t have a great reputation, and many people viewed homelessness as a blight upon the city rather than a need that should be addressed. The actions of a few “bad apples” had cast a bad light on the Jimmie Hale Mission, Cooper said.

Cooper went to work immediately, attending civic meetings, improving newsletters and other aspects of the ministry’s public relations. It wasn’t a quick fix, he said.

“You’ve got to be in it for the long haul,” Cooper said.

In order to bring in more donations, Cooper began a mailer campaign in 1990, which he said was graciously paid for by Waterfront. The only thing Cooper had to do was go pick up the flyers, which he did, despite driving a “raggedy van” that he wasn’t sure would make it to Pensacola and back.

By the end of the year, the mission was $60,000 in debt. But the campaign quickly turned that around by bringing in $100,000 in donations, enough to pay off the debt and pay Waterfront back for its help, Cooper said.

“Twenty-nine years later, … I’ve never had to apologize to a vendor again for us not paying our bills,” Cooper said.

With the exception of 2018, Jimmie Hale finished every year since Cooper took over in the black.

The mission has changed in the decades since Cooper took over, adding Discovery Clubs, which teach 1,500 children a week about biblical values and necessary life skills.

The mission still provides shelter and meals for the homeless, and in the past 25 years it has added a drug rehabilitation center, a men’s center, Jessie’s Place and job-training classes.

This year, the mission celebrates not only the decades of service by Cooper, but also 75 years of serving the Birmingham area.

“It belongs to God,” he said. “... The mission is way bigger than Tony Cooper.”

While it’s important for the ministry to bring in donations, Cooper said there are far more important goals for the staff.

“Our product is changed lives,” Cooper said. “That’s the ROI. It’s a changed life; it’s a person having a need met, reuniting with family. … We’re not a business that conducts ministry. We’re a Christian ministry that operates in a business-like atmosphere.”

The staff has also greatly expanded in Cooper’s time as director, with more program and facility directors. Cooper said he now has people “smarter than me” working in various areas.

Many of those staff members are former clients, Cooper said, a working testimony of the mission’s success.

Reflecting on almost 30 years of time spent at Jimmie Hale, Cooper said he’s most enjoyed seeing God work in and through the ministry.

“Because of God’s direction and helping us get the word out … we are one of the most respected and recognized [ministries] in central Alabama,” Cooper said.

For 75 years, the mission has a history of working with God to help the hurting, Cooper said. While the mission provides food and shelter, Cooper said the objective is to change lives through spreading the hope of Christianity.

“I don’t know anything that’s going to change your life and change your heart more than the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Cooper said.

Cooper said he doesn’t have retirement plans yet, but he is seeking God’s will and is confident that he’ll find out soon.

“The opportunity will come up before I get anxious about it,” Cooper said.