Cornerstone For Women Foundation

A JOURNEY OF HOPE 

Faithful to the heritage of their founder, Marguerite d'Youville, the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception made a major financial contribution to this Journey of Hope. The love, support, prayers and encouragement of these kind and generous women are acknowledged with gratitude.

Cornerstone Housing for Women Foundation 

The Women’s Rooms

There are 42 rooms for residents, each one a bed-sitting room with private bathroom and a small fridge and microwave or stove. Twenty of the women who will live at 314 Booth are seniors. Under the Adopt-A-Room program all rooms have been sponsored by donors. Many donors have named special people in their lives whom they wish to remember, and who have been an inspiration to the individual, parish or group making the donation. The stories have been inspiring to us all: one donor describes herself as a fellow traveller; several others named a parent, special aunt or other person who reached out to others and inspired them to do the same. Two rooms were funded in memory of sisters, one of whom had polio as a child and grew up to become a role model and advocate for persons with disabilities. Sometimes an inheritance was the motivation to give a gift that the person who died might have made in their lifetime. One parish gave their donation to honour two women volunteers who undertake every job in the church to make sure it functions well. Another individual donor adopted a room because she has been blessed and never suffered hunger or wondered if she had a place to sleep that night. As the stories have been woven into the fabric of this building, we are all uplifted by them.

Adopt-A- Room Donors

Adopt-A- Room Donors

Church of the Ascension Ottawa

Anglican Deanery of Arnprior

A Fellow Traveller

G. M. Bushell  Qu’Appelle Diocese

Church of St. Barnabas A & M

Margaret and Frank Chandler

Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa (2 rooms)

Family and friends of Betsy Clarke

In loving memory of David G. Chance

Sally Lyons Cleary

Parish of Franktown/Innisville

Ottawa Chinese Alliance Church

www.anglicansinthehills.ca

Patricia and Richard Day

Dominion-Chalmers United Church

Eleanor S. Bates-Dunn

Parish of the Epiphany

Elizabeth Fox

St. Helen’s Anglican Church

St. James the Apostle Manotick

St.  John the Evangelist, Ottawa

Anne McDougall Adopted-A-Room

McPhail Memorial Baptist Church

MacKay United Church Women

Sylvia and Tanyse MacLeod (Royal LePage) 

St. Martin’s Parish

St Matthew’s Anglican Church, Ottawa

St. Matthias Anglican Church

St. Paul’s Kanata

In memory of Jean and Joseph Saunderson

In memory of Jill Stevenson 1944-1956

Barbara Stewart 1947-2009

St. Stephen’s Women’s Fellowship

Sheila’s Room – Trinity Bank St.

Tejaswini

In honour of The Rev. William (Bill) Byers

Women on Skis

Shelagh and David Williams

The Ven. Gordon and Leslie Worden

Carefor Community Health & Services

The Common Rooms

Many parishes, faith groups and community groups have provided support to 314 Booth Street. A number of these groups have directed their donations to the Faith Common Room and to the Community Common Room. There are three common rooms, one for each floor. One of the deepest struggles for the women who will live here will be loneliness and isolation, as they have very little family in their lives. The common rooms will be places where the women can congregate to offer each other companionship and peer support. There will be a place for counseling, workshops and life skills programs where cooking and laundry facilities are available; a place where volunteers will offer recreational activities, book clubs, cutting hair and crafts; a place to bring visitors; or a place to use a telephone.  Staff will be able to meet with residents here in a less formal, non-threatening place, if they are too ill or fearful to set or keep an appointment. In this setting therapeutic interventions will be more “normalized”.

Faith Common Room Donors

Church of the Resurrection

Christ Church CathedralSisters of St. Joseph

Centertown Churches Social Action Committee

St. Michael’s ACW, Maxville

Church of St. Columba Altar Guild

St. James UCW, Osgoode

St. Thomas the Apostle

Church of the Ascension

McPhail Memorial Baptist Church

St. John the Baptist, Kars

St. Luke’s Anglican Church

Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church

Community Common Room Donors

Beta Rho

Kiwanis Club of Bytown

Rotary Club of West Ottawa

Swiss Seniors Club

Optimist Club of Nepean

Communityworks Inc.

The Quiet Room/ Salle de Reflection

When a group of Cornerstone volunteers, committee and board members, staff and residents gathered in 2005 to begin planning for the home that would become 314 Booth Street, many expressed a view that women living here would appreciate a place of reflection, quiet, prayer and respectful conversation about their spiritual lives. A multi-faith pastoral care team will facilitate a variety of activities for the residents of 314 Booth Street to share together. The Quiet Room was sponsored by the Church of St Bartholomew, whose members have been a source of encouragement for Cornerstone as 314 Booth Street moved from dream to reality.

Chapel/Quiet Room Donor

The Church of St. Bartholomew

Edna’s Kitchen

“Edna’s Kitchen” promises to be an important gathering and learning place for the women who live at 314 Booth Street. This spacious, state of the art room will be a centre for learning new cooking skills, and will potentially be the site of Cornerstone’s first social enterprise. Because the kitchen is often the centre of a community’s activity, we anticipate that many of Cornerstone’s special occasions will be celebrated here as well. 

Edna’s Kitchen Donors

Edna’s Kitchen was generously sponsored by dear long time friends of Cornerstone who chose to remain anonymous.

Kitchen supplies and program funding were graciously provided by Canadian Women Golfers. 

The Computer Room

The Computer Room will be the gateway to new technology for the women. Here they will learn basic techniques and new skills. It was funded by two grants. The Community Foundation of Ottawa supported the server and the King’s Daughters and Sons Ottawa City Union funded the purchase of computers. The King’s Daughters and Sons has an interest in supporting literacy, and they decided that in today’s world, literacy means being computer-literate.

Computer Room Donors

Computer Lab: Funded in part by the Community Foundation of Ottawa 

Computers: The King’s Daughters and Sons

Other Spaces

The foyer reception area was funded by a family of five whose mother was a committed Cornerstone volunteer who vowed she would never rest until something was done for the older women at Cornerstone. She died before we could achieve her dream, but she is remembered as we enter this fine building. The flooring was donated by a man whose father, in the same business, taught him by example by making a similar donation years ago. The medical room is sponsored by an immigrant family who value the strength of our community. Other spaces were chosen by donors to carry out aspects of our work which they treasure most.

Named Opportunity Donors    

Board Room: Urbandale Corporation

Outreach Office: Carol Burrows

Medical Room: Subash, Sarita and Somesh Agrawal

Vestibule and Reception Area: Marian Chapman and Family

Sitting Room Furnishings: St. Richard’s Anglican Church

Dinah-Kit Meeting Room: Donors: Valerie and Melinda Hughes 

Dining Room: Royal LePage Real Estate

The A. E. and V. J. Edwards Garden: Deborah Edwards and family

Flooring: Altro Floors 

Meeting Room Two: Phil and Gail Downey

Staff Lounge Furnishings: Sue Garvey and Larry Langlois

The Cornerstone Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support from the following granting foundations and corporations:

Minto Family Foundation

Ganz Family Charitable Foundation

Friends and Family Fund

Kelly Family Fund

Sahara Foundation

REALTORS Care Foundation (Ottawa Real Estate Board)

Harold Crabtree Foundation

J. Bickell Foundation

Royal LePage Shelter Foundation 

Community Foundation of Ottawa

BMO Bank of Montreal