On Wednesday, April 5, attendees gathered over virtual coffee for the 2023 Caring About Community Forum. Merideth Rose, Cornerstones of Care President & CEO, led the 40-minute public forum which highlighted organization-wide achievements from 2022, recognized key people, programs, and projects that impacted the organization, and informed the community about upcoming initiatives and opportunities in 2023.

Merideth began the forum by sharing two short videos, “Cornerstones of Care – About Us” and “22 Ways You Helped Improve Safety and Health in 2022,” to demonstrate the scope of our work in the past year.

“You helped make all of that possible through your support and your donation of time, talent, and treasures,” said Merideth. “Thank you so much.”

She pulled out three statistics from the 22 Things video that spoke to our overall impact as an organization.

• 126 children were safely reunited with their families
• 1481 loving homes partnered with us to provide foster care for children
• 122 youth found forever homes through adoption

“We believe that children belong in homes with families,” said Merideth. “If reunification isn’t an option, then it’s amazing when so many families step up to be foster families or to adopt young people.”

These and other standout statistics, as well as several stories of hope and healing from the past year, are featured in the 2022 Impact Report, now available for download.

In addition to Merideth, several voices from the Cornerstones of Care community also spoke at the Community Forum.

Theo Bunch, Director of Career and Technical Education, shared about the exciting growth and development of the Build Trybe program, a mentorship community that aims to build health and independence by empowering youth with employable skills. In 2022, Cornerstones of Care opened The Shop, a space in Midtown dedicated to the youth exploring woodworking, metalworking, and more.

“Ultimately, thanks to Stanley Black & Decker’s generous support in 2022, The Shop has become a vibrant new space for foster care and homeless youth and a resource for under-resourced communities who would otherwise lack access to a quality fabrication and learning facility,” said Theo.

A success video amplifying the experience of Build Trybe Apprentice Dylan Stephens and his time in the horticulture landscaping program was shared at the 2022 Spirit Gala and again at the Community Forum.

Later this year, Cornerstones of Care will release an updated strategic plan to guide the organization’s future. Karyn Finn, Senior Director of MO Youth Programs & Services and WIDE Initiative Co-Lead, spoke about our organization’s renewed commitment to amplifying our work as a welcoming, inclusive, diverse, and equitable place and space for everyone.

“I’m really proud that Cornerstones of Care is not just talking the talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion work, but we’re actually walking the walk,” said Karyn.

Among other things, the WIDE (Welcoming, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity) committee continues to support the formation of employee relations groups to help employees and community members celebrate important cultural events like Women’s History Month, Juneteenth, and Pride Month.

Thanks to generous grants and community support, our WIDE Initiative work in 2023 will be supported by an external consultant, hired to lead the way on several organization-wide priorities. These WIDE 2.0 priorities include targeted training for team members and vital community engagement efforts such as the development of diverse and affirming foster homes to support the needs of kids in foster care.

The third featured speaker was a Cornerstones of Care Governing Board of Directors member, Lexa Zacny, Project Manager with Turner Construction. She spoke about the strong, community-focused culture at Turner Construction and how their team members support Cornerstones of Care through “sweat equity” and monetary support.

To conclude, Merideth shared a vision for the future built around the foundation of our work: purpose, people, and presence. This purpose is driven by our CARE (Courageous Action Requires Everyone) commitment to create a culture where everyone feels valued.

Merideth outlined three ways that individuals can connect with our mission in 2023 by choosing to support us with a financial gift, volunteer with us, or join us at a special event this year.

“As we continue to ask the hard and courageous questions, work to ensure inclusivity and equity in everything we do, and work collaboratively with all of our partners to stretch, to evolve, and to grow, responsively and responsibly, we invite you to stay with us,” said Merideth. “There is room at the table. And great things happen when we work together. And when Cornerstones of Care is in the room.