Cornerstones is there for individuals and families once the crisis has passed, giving them the ability to choose and plan their next steps in an environment that offers time, space and resources to succeed.
Cornerstones Housing Corporation (a program and affiliate of Cornerstones) provides affordable rental housing opportunities and care management services in its 106 scattered-site rental townhomes and apartments in Reston, Herndon, and Centreville, to formerly homeless or low-income families who would otherwise have to spend as much as 50 to 80 percent of their income to afford rent alone.
Community Care Management is a one-on-one “wrap-around” support service offered to community members who need to obtain or maintain stability as they journey toward self-sufficiency. The hub of Community Care Management is located at Cornerstones’ Connections for Hope Partnership office in Herndon, a facility of co-located nonprofits and government agencies that work together to improve service delivery to residents in the community. These services strengthen the clients’ stability and include client-identified goal development; referrals to resources, such as emergency food and financial assistance, dental or medical assistance or benefits; opportunities to engage in direct programming and services at Cornerstones, such as housing counseling and eviction prevention, employment services, educational assistance, financial literacy, and citizenship classes; and access to partner resources and programs such as ESL and parenting classes, pro bono legal support, childcare, and computer courses offered at Connection for Hope or the Herndon Neighborhood Resource Center. In FY18, community care management was provided to 387 families living in the Reston/Herndon community.
The Pathways to Sustainable Employment program located at the Connections for Hope Partnership office offers individuals an opportunity to position themselves better for jobs in not just traditional, but new and growing employment sectors. The program comprises a number of components: a 10-day, 30-hour job-readiness curriculum; employment clinics where clients receive assistance in identifying growth sectors in their areas of interest and can apply for available positions within those sectors; access to the professional expertise of volunteers who mentor clients; monthly workshops; and one-on-one employment counseling. In FY17, 63% of graduates from the Pathways to Sustainable Employment program found or improved their employment after graduating from the program.
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