You probably know someone with a home by John Cooney’s Naples firm, Stofft Cooney Architects. Even with the dozens of residences he’s created across the region over nearly three decades, John’s impact is strongest through his nonprofit contributions.
He recalls the humbling moment when his mother toured the new Stofft Cooney-designed, 30,000-square-foot Baker Senior Center Naples. “My mom, being very similar to a lot of seniors, was saying, ‘Oh, I don’t need this; this is for older people,” he recalls. “When she walked through the building, she was in awe.” Instead of an institutional, hospital-like setting, John’s mother found homey lounge areas, a serene palette, covered patios with planters at various levels for gardening, and lofty spaces with floor-to-ceiling windows. Everything was engineered to support and uplift the center’s nearly 3,000 members.
The architect believes in giving what, how and where you can. For him, that often means contributing his talent for architecture and the psychological boons of thoughtful design. “That kind of goes unnoticed,” he says. “I was thanked 100 times for reducing my fees on the project and being involved, but it’s really about the architecture.” John’s work has proved transformative for nonprofits like Naples Children & Education Foundation, where Stofft Cooney drafted the headquarters building; Our Daily Bread Food Pantry; The Immokalee Foundation; and the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, which John credits as some of his most gratifying work (“There was no publicity or notoriety at all,” he says).
The architect aims for the same enhancing effect with the 5-acre campus for STARability Foundation and its Trailblazer Academy, which he and his wife, Carrie, helped establish to provide vocational training, continuing education, and social and community engagement to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Cooneys were stirred to action 28 years ago after their son, Brett, was diagnosed with autism. Resources were scarce throughout Brett’s childhood and were nearly nonexistent when he reached adulthood. “The need is the overwhelming reason why it’s so popular,” John says of STARability, which has reached critical mass for support in recent years with the Cooneys’ help.
John is now chairing the campus’ $26 million capital campaign. “It’s a daunting task, but I feel confident,” he says. The project and its specifics are still in progress, but John’s been sketching and dreaming. Thinking about his son and the space he wants Brett to enjoy, John envisions a clubhouse-like setting with the trademark Stofft Cooney transitional contemporary style and tropical elements. “STARability provides a lot of different services, and the building needs to reflect everything they do,” he says. “It’s not just the workplace—it’s a hangout, it’s a social place, it’s an exercise room.” He imagines art and music studios, libraries, a venue for monthly socials, housing and all the amenities members need for enriched daily living. “The disabled adult population has been not a priority,” John says. “It was a forgotten population, and now it’s not—and it’s getting better and better each year.” —Stephanie Granada