Cornerstone Collaborative
An Innovative
Socio-Economic Community Ecosystem
Eliminating Poverty & Violence
through Networked Community Development
SOME OF WHAT WE DO
Launching New Programs in Texas
Aiming to reduce recidivism, young adult violence, and destructive behavior
Addressing Trauma Experienced by Black Military Veterans
Facilitating more safe and more secure living conditions for the veteran and their neighbors, increasing quality of life, and decreasing unexpected violent episodes.
Black Women’s Health and Wellness
Promoting mental, financial, and social health (a state of being) and wellness (the state of living a healthy lifestyle).
Expanding Digital Equity in the Caribbean
The Digital Equity (Techquity) Initiative launched in Jamaica in 2022 aims to make technology accessible to children and adolescents in the Caribbean who otherwise wouldn’t have access. The short-term objective is to remotely teach coding, website development, app creation, game design, and to foster a welcoming environment for young people ages 7-17. The long-term goal is to create opportunities for expanded learning, higher education, and employment, and to disrupt generational poverty. The platform and curriculum are provided through our volunteer-led program that is free to learners ages 7-17.
photo credit:https://files.globalgiving.org
Brunch and Ball Mentoring Program
The Brunch and Ball Mentoring Program has expanded to a third location, the Roxbury YMCA in Boston, MA. The mentoring program started at the Dorchester YMCA, then grew to Cambridge, MA less than 2 years ago, and is now its third location at the Roxbury YMCA as of October 2021. Click here to learn more.
What do you know about Sickle Cell Disease?
Did you know that sickle cell disease (SCD) affects millions of people throughout the world? Although SCD is most common among African Americans in the United States, it can also affect Hispanics and people whose ancestors come from countries in South Asia (such as India), southern Europe (such as Greece and Italy), and the Middle East (such as Saudi Arabia and Lebanon). Click here to learn more and here for caring for common complications of SCD.
Watering Farms in Jamaica
A continuing need of rural farmers is demand-access to water through water storage and water catchment systems. The soil profile in Jamaica is mainly limestone. Although it rains often, the water does not hold effectively within the soil to support sustained year-round farming. Moreover, many farms are maintained on reclaimed land that was previously mined for bauxite, presenting the risk of water contamination or other adverse spillover effects. Climate change has heightened the struggle for proper irrigation as farmers can experience prolonged periods of drought. For this reason, proper irrigation of farms and water storage has been a constant challenge.
Cornerstone seeks to measurably improve the ability of rural farmers in St. Ann, Jamaica to access water for year-round and sustainable agriculture for food production. For more information or to support this endeavor, contact us, or click the image to the right.
Veteran's Mental Health
Improving Access to Care
As a thought incubator, Cornerstone is developing solutions to address issues that matter most to the communities we serve. Among these concerns, we acknowledge a shortage of mental health providers serving many communities, including those with military families. Even among the excellent providers available, health insurance carried by many military families can often become a barrier when it is not accepted or limitations are placed on the frequency of mental health care provided.
Access to health care for military families involves more than just mental health, and includes social determinants such as veterans experiencing homelessness. Cornerstone is pursuing an advocacy framework for these and other issues such as disrupting the link between mental health and the criminal justice system. For more information or to support this endeavor, contact Becca Reeves at rreeves@cornercollab.org and COL (Ret.) Lawrence X. Henry, Ph.D at dr.lawrence@cornercollab.org
Breaking The Glass Ceiling: A Woman’s Journey (Part II)
Breaking The Glass Ceiling: A Woman’s Journey (Part I)
Click on the flyer above or below to view and listen to the events held on March 25th and 23rd, 2021, during which presenters shared steps they took and obstacles they hurdled to be in the positions of leadership and influence they currently hold. These notable women are examples of encouragement and motivation for all of us, and especially girls and women to remain on the various paths of success in life -- professionally, educationally, socially, and emotionally.
Facilitating Community Dialogue
Click here or the flyer below to view and listen to the this panel discussion on February 18, 2021, open to the general public and for those who have experienced specific challenges throughout the pandemic. The panelists shared their expertise and experience in their respective fields during the pandemic.
Initiative to End Misogyny
The “Initiative to End Misogyny” (ITEM) aims to engage boys who are age six (6) and older and men of any age in educational programming and community awareness activities that encourage men and boys to work as allies with women and girls to prevent domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking. The emphasis of effort for this population is to strengthen the effectiveness of community mentors and support networks and to provide civil legal assistance programs serving people who have experienced misogyny or toxic masculinity or are at risk of domestic violence. This effort promotes community networks and innovation through four Core Elements of the Initiative: Healing and Repairing Community, Addressing Toxic Masculinity at All Ages, Providing Civil Legal Support, and Mentorship. For more information or to support this endeavor, contact us.
Promoting Dignity in Massachusetts
LeadBoston Program Manager, Rachael Conway and Massachusetts Executive Director, Francois Fils-Aime after meeting to discuss collaboration toward "eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all " https://www.ywboston.org/our-work/
Black Male Educators Brunch
Massachusetts Executive Director, Francois Fils-Aime (second row, wearing hat) along with other black male professionals met during the Black Male Educators Brunch in Boston, MA to discuss and solve how to best serve young men in the city of Boston. The brunch would be one of the many meetings to be hosted by the He Is Me Institute, whose purpose is to increase the number of Black men who become teachers. https://www.heisme.org/
Partners in Education
Erin McGrath, Executive Director of Boston Partners in Education (https://bostonpartners.org/) pictured with Francois Fils-Aime, Massachusetts Executive Director of Cornerstone Collaborative innovating and aligning efforts.
Some of What We Support
