Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Housing instability is a growing crisis in Northern Virginia. Despite being one of the most affluent areas in the United States, this region’s dwindling affordable housing options and a dearth of employment opportunities that cover necessary living expenses, healthcare, transportation, and childcare costs – let alone build savings and other assets – bring thousands of hard-working, lower-income families to the brink of losing their homes and many into actual homelessness. For those economically-vulnerable residents who also experience social and racial inequities, physical and mental health illnesses, or undocumented status, housing instability is compounded even further. Addressing real and imminent poverty and building communities where all can thrive requires an integrated, collaborative approach at the ground level and greater advocacy at the systems level – both of which have been Cornerstones’ expertise for almost 50 years
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Cornerstones
Cornerstones exists so that individuals and families in the Dulles Corridor who are homeless, living in poverty or facing other needs can access resources that offer stability, empowerment and hope for healthy and connected lives.
Affordable Housing
The majority of people without homes in our community are children and working families? 66% percent of adults in families that are homeless are employed.
The real challenge in Northern Virginia is that it takes an average household income of $70,560 to cover the basics of housing, transportation, food and clothing, without even thinking about other extras.
Low incomes and expensive housing are the main reasons for homelessness in our community. The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment is more than $1,700. Thousands of individuals and families in Fairfax County spend more than half of their income each month on housing costs.
Cornerstones reached a milestone in 2015 when it doubled its stock of local, affordable housing, but we would need to double that again year after year to meet the projected 3,000 new households with extremely low- and very low incomes who will be working and living in the greater Reston-Herndon area over the next 15 years.
RestON - Opportunity Neighborhood Reston
Opportunity Neighborhood Reston (RestON) exists to champion community priorities that relate to improving the lives of children, youth and their families, creating brighter futures full of opportunity for every child and youth in Reston.
Whether it is in areas of health, or being ready and prepared for school, feeling safe in our home and community, or having a plan for graduation and beyond—Opportunity Neighborhood helps our community identify the priorities and work together toward that change.
Laurel Learning Center
Our Laurel Learning Center offers school readiness, pre- and afterschool academic enrichment, summer programs, and quality childcare for families who are low-income or experiencing homelessness. In FY 21, kindergarteners from low-income families entered school with the foundational skills necessary for academic success and our preschoolers achieved their developmental milestones. Children in our after-school program maintained or improved their academic grades (per school achievement and grade reports).
Assistance Services and Pantry Program (ASAPP)
OUR ASAPP provides food, toiletries, rent and utility assistance to help community members maintain stability. The largest food pantry in northwest Fairfax County, ASAPP is open to the public five days a week and one Saturday morning a month. Typically each year, ASAPP serves over 6,000 individuals (including over 2,000 families and 3,000 children) with bags of food and groceries, packets of diapers/wipes, clothing vouchers, and over $50,000 in rent and utility assistance. In addition, with support from generous neighbors in the community, it distributes over 2,250 seasonal gifts – from back-to-school packs to Thanksgiving baskets to holiday gifts for kids – and contributes over 4,000 coats to our County Supervisor Hudgins’ Winter Coat Drive.
Embry Rucker Community Shelter
The Embry Rucker Community Shelter (ERCS) welcomes those who find themselves without a roof over their heads and needing assistance to obtain family and financial stability. In a typical year, over 450 individuals, comprising singles and families with children are provided shelter at ERCS. Winters are cold in Reston and some of our regular clients seek support from our winter hypothermia program, or services under our Medical Respite program that enables extremely ill people, who would have been discharged from hospital to the streets, to be able to recover in a safe, stable environment. We offer an outreach program is to those who are chronically homeless in the community and resist efforts to secure shelter or housing. We have an 88% success rate keeping our clients from returning to the streets.
Where we work
Awards
Annual Skyline Award - "Best Use of Social Media" 2022
Chicago PRSA
True Inspiration Award 2021
Chic-fil-A
COVID-19 Hero Award 2021
Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce
Nonprofit of the Year 2018
Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce
Partnership Award 2018
Fairfax County - Department of Neighborhood and Community Services
L. Burnell Gunn Citizenship Award 2017
FVCbank
Partnership Award 2017
Fairfax County - Department of Neighborhood and Community Services
Legacy Award 2016
The Commonwealth Institute
Top 40 Network Award 2015
Virginia Housing Coalition
Partnership Award 2015
Fairfax County - Department of Neighborhood and Community Services
BEST Workplace for Commuters Award 2015
Fairfax County
Affiliations & memberships
Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce 2018
NeighborWorks Organization Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation - Membe 2008
Afterschool Alliance 2005
Association of Fundraising Professionals - Member 2001
National Association for the Education of Young Children 2000
United Way - Member Agency 1980
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsFY21 - The Embry Rucker Homeless Shelter served 850 households including 71 families, 138 children, and 675 singles. 96 households moved into permanent affordable housing.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Embry Rucker Community Shelter
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
ERCS served 850 households including 71 families, 138 children, and 675 singles. 96 households moved into permanent affordable housing.
FY21 - Eviction Protection Program - Our program distributed over $4.5M to 1230 households. $1.8M CARES to 581 households and $985K Community Block Grants to 330 households
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Affordable Housing
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our program distributed over $4.5M to 1230 households. $1.8M CARES to 581 households and $985K Community Block Grants to 330 households
FY21 - Assistant Services and Pantry Program - Our ASSP program served 1,347 households benefiting 4,850 people. Over 1,000 households received 10,480 bags of food/toiletries.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Assistance Services and Pantry Program (ASAPP)
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Our ASAPP program served 1,347 households benefiting 4,850 people. Over 1,000 households received 10,480 bags of food/toiletries.
FY-21 ASSP provided more than $1M in in-kind food and gift cards donated and $150K in gift cards purchased. 38 households received utilities assistance benefiting 104 persons (Valued at $17,800)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Assistance Services and Pantry Program (ASAPP)
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
ASAPP provided more than $1M in in-kind food and gift cards donated and $150K in gift cards purchased. 38 households received utilities assistance benefiting 104 persons (Valued at $17,800)
FY21 - SNAP - Our SNAP partnership allowed SNAP clients to purchase fresh produce through the Market/Fresh Match program at the local Reston Farmers Market. 671 transactions valued at $44,000
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Assistance Services and Pantry Program (ASAPP)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Our SNAP partnership allowed SNAP clients to purchase fresh produce through the Market/Fresh Match program at the local Reston Farmers Market. 671 transactions valued at $44,000
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Cornerstones is passionate about preventing and ending homelessness, attacking root causes of poverty, and connecting everyone to opportunities to thrive and succeed. The nonprofit has three primary goals: a) to remove barriers to individual success; b) to promote individuals and communities advocating for themselves and working together for their children’s futures; and c) to work in cross-community partnerships focused on removing systemic barriers and promoting equitable access to education, housing, and employment.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Cornerstones convenes and collaborates with community stakeholders around five key strategies:
• Stable Housing – To increase the number of housing units affordable to low-wage workers; prevent evictions and ensure that low-income households find and maintain homes; limit the time spent on the streets and in shelter, moving adults and children as soon as possible to more appropriate housing; and provide care management support while families are working to thrive.
• Successful Youth and Children – To provide quality childcare and early learning to children in low-income families; promote and provide neighborhood services for youth to have safe, enriching out-of-school services; support parental engagement for family stability and success, and engage at-risk youth in academic and social services.
• Connected Communities – To promote self-advocacy and neighborhood engagement on common issues; provide training and opportunities for adult and youth leadership; and lead collaborative efforts to focus public and private partners and residents around successful children, from cradle to career.
• Self-Sufficiency – To increase the ability of youth and adults to envision and achieve long-term career goals; ensure access to basic needs such as food and medical services; and provide one-on-one support to low-income residents facing multiple barriers to life-sustaining goals.
• Partnerships and Advocacy – To facilitate public and private partners and community groups working together, with and for low-income households; and promote efforts to break down barriers that hinder the long-term success of community members at the local, regional, and state levels.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Cornerstones is a trusted and influential nonprofit that has offered life-sustaining human services and housing stability in Northern Virginia since 1970. Cornerstones’ capabilities include:
• Critical community assets such as emergency shelter, food pantry, quality childcare, school readiness and academic enrichment, and affordable housing units; as well as, on-the-ground presence in four apartment complexes, and two neighborhood resource centers;
• 140+ staff, including specialists in homelessness prevention and rehousing, social work, self-sufficiency services, housing counseling, out-of-school-time programming, adult educational enrichment, and monitoring and evaluation;
• A vibrant, engaged Board of Directors, with diverse expertise and experience in the regional and state public and private sectors; and
• 6,000+ local volunteers bringing non-professional and professional support to Cornerstones’ efforts.
Cornerstones stands out as a community-based organization due to its unique ability to offer integrated, accessible services; to provide information and referrals (either directly or in coordination with others); and to adapt programs quickly to meet changing needs.
Cornerstones is respected and consulted by elected officials and agency staff at the local and state level and supported by a diverse array of public and private partners, foundations, faith communities, and social and neighborhood associations.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Over the past 50 years, with the dedicated support of funders, partners, and volunteers, Cornerstones has:
- Reduced the number of people experiencing homelessness in Fairfax County by 46 percent;
- Purchased 108 housing units for formerly-homeless, very low-income households, including seniors and families;
- Worked with community leaders and public/private partners in low-income neighborhoods to promote self-advocacy and a stronger bridge to success for children and youth;
- Helped more than 15,000 community members a year get through difficult times with access to basic needs assistance, self-sufficiency services, and wrap-around caring support;
- Improved access to affordable childcare, early learning, and out-of-school-time programming to keep participating families on track for school and career success.
Plans for 2020 and the future, include:
- Making long-term plans for developing 200+ new units of affordable housing in the Dulles corridor region for low-income families and individuals leaving homelessness;
- Marking our 50th year of service by educating and engaging our community in ongoing needs and securing resource commitments for Cornerstones’ efforts to ensure Strong Stable Families and Communities;
- Increasing alignment between client services and advocacy, to ensure greater impact and equitable access to resources across the community; and
- Promoting community involvement in the 2020 Census, especially in traditionally undercounted areas.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
CORNERSTONES INC
Board of directorsas of 04/13/2023
Lawrence Schwartz
Commonwealth Advisory, LLC
Vice Chair Roberta Gosling
St. Anne’s Episcopal Church
Debra Allen
Heritage Fellowship Church
Michael Cooley
Shoreshim
Diane Ellor
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Roberta Gosling
AlphaSix Corporation
Joan Kasprowicz
St. John Neumann Catholic Community
Andrew Lacher
Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation
Lawrence Schwartz
Commonweatlh Advisory, LLC
Stephen Smith-Cobbs
Trinity Presbyterian Church
John Thomas
Leidos (ret.)
Robert Van Hoecke
Regulatory Economics Group, LLC
Mark Watts
CST Group
Hugo Aguas
The Synergy Organization
Joe Bellman
St. Anne's Episcopal Church
Dave Ehrhardt
Adventure Consultant
Carolyn Hamm
St. Timothy's Episcopal Church
Craig Kendall
Financial Investments, Inc.
Joe Koszarek
Deloitte
Rev. Michelle Moyer
Christ the Servant Lutheran
Michelle Nickens
Washinton Plaza Baptist Church
Gillean Sescoe
Congregation Beth Emeth
Steve Silver
Shoreshim Jewish Community
Judith Pollizotti
Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston
Rev. Daniel Park
Floris United Methodist Church/Restoration Church
Tracey White
Reston Hospital Center
Roy Stevens
Leidos
Marcus Leathers
United Christian Parish
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data