Cornerstone Lately...3.11.11

8:47 AM Posted by CANBlog

God is working like crazy in and through Cornerstone, so we want to fill you in on some of the highlights on a weekly basis. We’ll separate the updates out by department and link them to our website so you can find out more about that department if you’d like. This first update will be lengthy because we just came up with the idea but have a few weeks’ worth and want to fill you in!

The picture above is of Kim and Suzette, our wonderful Cornerstone Thrift Store managers. They're actually sitting down in one place at the same time so we had to get a picture!

The Cornerstone Thrift Store March is our 1 year Thrift Store anniversary! We will be having a big sale in April to celebrate…to be sure you’re in on all the coupons and secret sales, sign up for the Thrift Store e-Newsletter and follow us on Twitter @CANThrift.

Volunteer We love our volunteers! 103 individuals gave 892.6 hours of time and talent to Cornerstone in the month of February! To get the inside news on volunteer opportunities, sign up for our Volunteer e-Newsletter or check out our volunteer web page.

CCWJC This year is the 10^th year of the Cornerstone Christian Women’s Job Corps! We are so proud of all the ladies who have graduated from our classes. To see pictures, visit the CCWJC Facebook page and to learn more about the program, visit their page on our website.

Supportive Services The Scripture wall several of the staff worked on is beautiful and inspirational to staff and clients alike!

We are also excited to welcome Jenny Laing as our Client Case Aid!

New Creations God has expanded New Creations within the last month and there are now three divisions within it!

Women's Reentry Services
Reentry Mentoring Program
Promise House

New Creations is blessed to announce Promise House, a Christ-Centered woman's discipleship home dedicated to helping women releasing from prison experience the promises of God. During the month of March we will be working diligently to transform the house into a beautiful home for women with the hope to have a grand opening in April, 2011.

Please join us in welcoming Coyletta Govan, Director Women's Reentry Housing. Please be in prayer with us for Coyletta and the women who will come to New Creation's Promise House. We need help renovating Promise House and moving the women in. FMI, please click here:

WelcomeBack/Tarrant County Education and mentoring are two things that greatly benefit the individuals within our program as they reenter Tarrant County.

There is a great (free) program offered through TCC offering specialized training after the base hours are completed. For example, a student can take a forklift class to become certified or study OSHA.

We need men to mentor 30 gentlemen within the program and to encourage them as they hunt for jobs. Mentoring makes a large impact in the successful reentry of these men and women.

WB/TC is so thankful for Harold Kimber, who has volunteered hundreds of hours within our program. He organizes the mandatory orientation for parolees returning to Tarrant County.

Another great thing we’ve seen lately is a grant through the state and Kroger to supply wireless phones to parolees. There are, of course, criteria that must be met to obtain a phone, but the benefit of a parolee being able to contact their parole officer if they will miss a meeting is great! (Case in point: the ice storm in February).

Intermediary Services Lorenzo Pablo, the VISTA Project Coordinator, was marveling that CAN’s staff has nearly doubled since 2009. He has worked at Cornerstone for several years and has enjoyed seeing many programs, including the medical clinic, restaurant, and VISTA program, grow. He is excited to see what else God has in store and talked about how our CEO, Mike Doyle and CFO Roddy Youree have contributed much to the growth because of their God-centered leadership.

Community Services Last month, we had our first prospective partner tour and luncheon for church leaders and organizations. This introduced them to different ministries of CAN. We got great feedback and see tremendous possibilities with this new event.

Medical Clinic The Clinic is in expansion mode! We have submitted for free malpractice insurance through the federal government. This will cover our volunteer medical providers and will help us find more volunteers.

Key equipment (to see pictures, click here) has arrived, putting us closer to opening the vision piece of the clinic. Dental suites are on the horizon as well, and we are looking to apply for a grant to finish the fitness facility.

We are in need of more translators! Interested in volunteering? Please contact Kristen at khorton@canetwork.org.

Housing/Housing Development Corporation Soil samples are done and permits are being pulled! Project 1 (3 houses) will break ground this month. In the meantime, we're working to acquire 3 more lots for project 2 which should break ground in May.