2009 Fall Newsletter
Prayer Request
One of our neighbors read about us on our website. She sent us a donation and is wondering how to pray for us.
Our biggest prayer need right now is for money to get a new project off the ground. We’d like to build or rehab a multi-family building, providing two efficiency apartments for graduates of the Grace and Peace Winter Shelter, and at least two larger apartments, creating a mix of families in the building.
Grace and Peace Fellowship operates a women’s shelter in the winter. Every spring when the shelter closes, there are some women who are ready for their own small, manageable apartments. Cornerstone has been asked to help provide these apartments.
A committee has been working on the project for several months now. We identified a building near our other buildings that could be a candidate for rehab. Now we’re working on raising $20,000 to purchase the property. Of course, we charge rent and have income. But our rents are set intentionally well below market rate. We need to rely on gifts and grants for new projects.
A church sent us $2,000, and so we have a start for our new project fund. That’s our prayer request! Let’s thank the Lord for the $2,000 plus your gift, neighbor, and pray for more! Amen!
If you can make a year-end, tax-deductible donation toward this project, please make a check payable to Cornerstone Corporation and mail it to Cornerstone at 6030 Etzel Ave., St. Louis, MO 63112.
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An Enduring Partnership in the Gospel
On Saturday, October 17th, students and leaders from the senior high youth group at Grace and Peace Fellowship teamed up with Cornerstone to give one of our apartments on Washington Avenue a fresh coat of paint. Two of our very own Cornerstone board members were also part of the merry band of painters.
We are once again grateful to our friends at Grace and Peace Fellowship for their continued partnership with us as we seek to provide quality homes for low-income families. As many of you are well aware, Cornerstone was born out of the vision of men and women at Grace and Peace who sought to follow Christ’s call to care for their neighbors by creating safe and affordable housing. The partnership between Cornerstone and Grace and Peace is now four decades old. Traditionally, the Grace and Peace youth group has also helped distribute Christmas baskets to a number of our families each winter. Each year we look forward to spending a morning with our youth group friends encouraging families.
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Great Rivers Greenway
Considers a Bike Trail Along Etzel Avenue
Since last summer Cornerstone has been part of an unfolding discussion with the Great Rivers Greenway District and the broader West End community about constructing a walking/biking trail which would extend down Etzel Avenue. Since the 1980s, Etzel Avenue has been the focus of Cornerstone’s community stabilization efforts, and today it is where 28 of our 37 families live. While our large playground on Etzel provides a spacious place for the children in the neighborhood to play games, we welcome the St. Louis community’s investment in promoting wellness and neighborhood beautification.
The Great Rivers Greenway District http://www.greatrivers.info/ has formulated a plan to link our West End neighborhood to Forest Park to the south and UMSL to the north by means of a greenway made up of recreational trails lined with trees. This publicly-funded plan would also include a revitalized Ruth Porter Mall.
Understandably, a project of this scale inevitably faces the daunting task of negotiating the concerns of property owners and project planners. We at Cornerstone are excited about the prospect of seeing Etzel transformed into a trail and tree-lined street that invites the community to get outside and walk to wellness. See you on the trail.
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New Video, New Website Design
Cornerstone recently updated its website with a snazzy new look and added some features, including our very own video, which was produced by friends of Cornerstone Sylvester Jacobs and Bruce Smith. The eight-minute video captures the history, philosophy, and vision that has directed Cornerstone from its beginning, when a group of men and women were moved to heed Christ’s call to love our neighbors. We also have our very own YouTube posting of the video. Check it out at http://www.cornerstone-housing-ministry.org/video/
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How can you give to Cornerstone Corporation? Send your tax deductible donation to our office: 6030 Etzel, St. Louis, MO,63112 or call us at 314.726.2273.
Cathajane Rieger, President; Dana Malkus, Vice-President; Jon Easterling, Treasurer; Beth Dodson, Secretary; David Patrick, Aaron Turner, Phyllis Wheeler, Board Members; Matthew Kimbrell, Tenant Relations Manager
