The Cornerstone Creative Winter 2021 Update

Hi there! We’ve had a lot going on at The Cornerstone Creative since we last wrote. We're excited to share some recent updates with you.

Youth Mentorship Program

At the beginning of February, we completed our first ever after-school youth program. This was our 4-month “Pilot Program” with the goal of running through the entirety of the program. The participants who joined us were a great fit and it was awesome to journey with them. We learned so much with them, and we can’t say how grateful we are for their excitement to dive right in with us! Thanks to them, we also established a few new offerings moving forward, including an “Alumni Night.” On these nights, once a month, any and all participants from past programs can come for an “open shop” night to create and stay connected. 

The last segment of each session is dedicated to the participants utilizing their newly-acquired skills to give back. In doing this, we partner with local organizations. Last session we partnered with the Wellspring House in Gloucester, a local social service organization that supports families in securing stable housing, education, employment and a variety of other amazing services. TCC youth handmade 12 cutting boards that will be given to each family as they transition out of Wellsring’s emergency shelter and into more secure housing. Wellspring’s logo “Endless Possibilities” was laser etched into each board as a final touch. 

We are currently running our second round of after-school sessions. This time, we’ve added an extra day. We now run an older high-school group on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we added a middle school/early high school group on Wednesdays after school. We have two awesome high school volunteers working with us on Wednesdays with the younger crew. These two volunteers are a great fit and we’re really excited to have them as part of the team!

Girls Scouts

We recently hosted a local Girl Scout Troop as they worked on their Bronze Medal project. Their goal was to build something from wood that is sustainable and will benefit the community. The mission of the project was right up our alley, and we were thrilled to be a part of it. The troop worked with Adam to make free library park bench which will be located on the porch of the Welcome Center at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester in the Spring!

Straight Ahead

We are excited about a new opportunity to work with Straight Ahead Ministries, an organization that provides aftercare, guidance and training to Juvenile Offenders. This week we started a twice-weekly daytime woodworking program with a group of teens and young men, as well as their mentors, through Straight Ahead. From the time The Cornerstone Creative was just an idea, we’ve hoped to one day work with young people transitioning back into the community. We’re grateful and excited to start working with this group!

Community Classes

On Monday, we hosted a make-your-own cutting board class, which was back by popular demand! This is a two-part class, with our second session this week. Keep your eye on our social media to see the class creations! 

To learn more about our community classes, visit: 
https://www.thecornerstonecreative.org/community-classes

Spring Community class schedule:

April 5th & 12th
Build Your Own Clock 
Sign up Here

May 3rd & 10th
Build Your Own Cornhole sets
Sign up Here

A Leap of Faith

Summer 2019, before we had the keys to the shop! :)

This month, Adam is taking the plunge and is going to full-time with The Cornerstone Creative!! This week was his last working part-time as a carpenter. As TCC continues to develop and expand programming, it is requiring a full time presence. Although Adam will remain fully volunteer for the time-being in order to keep funding dedicated to programming, we are hopeful that TCC will reach a level of financial sustainability as we continue to progress! Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we enter this exciting next chapter! 

This month marks 7 months since we opened our doors our first few participants! What a year it's been. I am smiling as I write this thinking about how much we've learned already, and how excited we for the future. At this time, The Cornerstone Creative exists thanks to the generosity of individuals as well as partnering organizations and foundations that believe in our mission and want to be a part of it. We are still a 100% volunteer-run organization and we are committed to keeping our after school youth program free for teens who need it. We cannot thank our partners enough for their support. If you would like to consider partnering with us this year, or learning more, visit the links below!

Learn more about us:
https://www.thecornerstonecreative.org

For one-time or reoccurring donations:
https://www.thecornerstonecreative.org/donate-cc