2011Annual Report Presented May 15, 2012

Mission Statement

To demonstrate the love of Christ by providing professional counseling services to help people become renewed and whole.

Vision

Our vision is that by the year 2015 Cornerstone Counselling Centre will be recognized as a leader in the Christian community and the community at large for providing excellence in psychological services offered with consideration of income.

Core Values

Compassion: We accept people from all walks of life.

Excellence: We are committed to ongoing professional development aimed at continuous improvement of services.

Respect: We respect the dignity, diversity, and interdependence of all persons.

Integrity: We build our relationships on honesty, fairness, and confidentiality.

Service: We strive to make counselling financially accessible to all persons.

Trust: We work in ways that generate trust, build confidence, and instill hope.

Message from the Executive Director

2011 year in review 2011 was an exciting year for Cornerstone. One of our primary goals were to increase the profile of our agency and our services. Although there are costs associated with marketing efforts, we realize even the best services will have limited impact if potential clients are not aware

of them. With this in mind, we began by increasing our contact with supporters, building networks with other not-for-profits, and advertising our services to the public.

Although the extremely cold winter kept clients away, we began to see an increase in client hours by the second half of the year. We are pleased to report that we provided more hours of client counselling in 2011 than we provided for any of the past three years. Our year end statistics show that Cornerstone provided over 6000 hours of counselling to more than 1600 clients. We are particularly excited to report that 75% of these clients qualified for a fee reduction. It is likely that only a handful of these clients would have been able to afford the counselling they needed without a fee subsidy. Each counselling hour represents an opportunity for someone to make a positive change in their life.

As a side benefit to increasing our community profile, there was an increase in the number of full fee clients that chose Cornerstone. As a charitable organization, we place a heavy emphasis on reaching out to low income clients who would not otherwise be able to access counselling. However, we must not forget that our highly experienced, qualified staff will also be sought after by clients who have employee benefits and those with comfortable incomes. We appreciate that the full fee clients choose to have counselling here, as the profit from these clients contributes overhead costs and allow us to offer additional community programs.

Overall, we have had a busy year promoting our services, developing community outreach programs, and planning for the future. We consider it a great privilege to meet with our clients and journey with them toward healing and growth.

Thank you to all our supporters for partnering with us as we help people transform their lives. This work would be impossible without your generosity, empathy, and belief in people’s ability to change.

Cornerstone Board Members

Cornerstone would like to thank our Board members for all the hard work and dedication that they put forth in 2011 to ensure good

governance and a strong future for Cornerstone. We would not be able to do our work without the ongoing efforts of these committed

volunteers.

Freda Molenkamp-Oudman (Term ends spring ‘12)Chairperson, Board of Directors

Andrew Clark (Term ends 2010 extended until spring 2011, now retired)

Rob Kerr (Term ends 2010, extended until fall 2011, now retired)

Bruce Clark (Term ends 2012)

Travis Braithwaite (Term ends spring 2012)

Jay Hamilton (Term ends spring 2012)

Ron Knol (Newly nominated Board Member)

Cornerstone Counselling Centre Organizational Chart

Top Ten Reasons Why People Attended Counselling 2011

Stress Relationship problems Family problems Anxiety Emotions Couples/marriage Depression

Executive DirectorSheila Stauffer

Clinical SupervisorJim Chalmers

BookkeeperPeggy Ward

ReceptionistChrystal

Steinwandt

Salaried Counsellor

Landor LiddellContract

CounsellorAmy Thompson

Office Administration Supervisor

Sheila Wray

Contract Counsellor

Marcia Buhler

Contract Counsellor

Ken Boschman

Contract Counsellor

Marcus Busch

Contract CounsellorAleksandra

Przybylo Contract Counsellor

Marliss MeyerContract

CounsellorWendy Ryden

Contract Counsellor

Rita MartinoContract Counsellor

Emily Snihurowych

Contract Counsellor

Myrna IssacContract

CounsellorHolly Slavik

Contract Counsellor

Paul BianchiniContract

CounsellorJay Buhler

Contract Counsellor

Sean RogersContract CounsellorJohn Hoedl

Contract Counsellor

Tamara Dorn

ReceptionistSandy Fisher

Developing and Marketing Assistant

Summer StudentMeagan CrowleyDevelopment/ED

AssistantVanessa Iceton

Anger Self-esteem Grief and Loss

Janua

ry

Febr

urar

y

March

April

MayJun

eJul

y

Augu

st

Septe

mber

Octobe

r

Novem

ber

Decem

ber

0.00

100.00

200.00

300.00

400.00

500.00

600.00

Client Hours

2009201020112012

Client Type

5%5%

16%

28%

45%

ClientsChildren Teens Couples Men Women

Client BreakdownIndividual MalesIndividual FemalesCouplesTotal files

5%5%

16%

28%

45%

ClientsChildren Teens Couples Men Women

Total Client Breakdown

Teens 86Children 78Couples 260Women 708

Men 450Other 108

Total Types 2011 1690

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Maya Angelou

Goals for 2012

Creating Awareness and Acceptance

Regardless of a person’s reason for seeking help, we want each person to feel welcomed, accepted, and valued. Labels such as crazy, weak, or incompetent have created a stigma that causes those with mental health issues and their families to live in denial and isolation. By giving people a safe place to reveal their issues, we can transform feelings of loneliness and shame into feelings of acceptance and belonging.

Cornerstone is invested in helping the community understand that mental health issues are everyone’s problem, because as human beings, we are all vulnerable. We strive to ensure that our communications and our fundraisers educate the public about mental health and we are joining with other not-for-profits to promote mental health awareness.

Affordable Counselling for the Whole Family

Cornerstone’s primary mission has not changed much in the past 35 years. We are passionate about making professional counselling accessible and affordable. Our clients include families and individuals of all income levels, the unemployed, and individuals with various

disabilities. Approximately 50% of our clients are from extremely low income households and would find it

In 2011, 75% of our clients received a subsidy.

1 in 5 adult Canadians (21.3%) or 4.5 million people will suffer a mental health issue in their lifetime

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.Galatians 2:6

impossible to pay the full cost of counselling services. Another 25% have modest incomes and would find counselling services a burden on their monthly budget. To meet the needs of all our clients, Cornerstone will continue to offer a range of subsidies based upon household income.

Many people don’t realize that children can be deeply impacted by death, divorce, abuse, and bullying. Life experiences, along with biological factors, can result in the early onset of mental health issues. 70% of all mental illnesses have their onset prior to age 18. Canadian mental health statistics show that 20% of children have a diagnosable mental health issue, but only 20% of those

affected will receive treatment. To ensure we can meet the needs of these young clients, we intentionally employ play therapists and counsellors that specialize in treating children and teens.

Community Outreach

Since 2010 we have actively been looking for opportunities to take counselling out of the office and into the community. Many community organizations do not have counselling services for their clients. In the last eighteen months, Cornerstone has been able to provide several psycho-educational groups in partnership with other organizations. Further, in 2012, Cornerstone began a partnership with an inner city elementary school to provide an emotional skill development group for selected students. The group is hosted in the school and is facilitated by a play therapist and psychology student volunteer. The objective of this ten week after school program is to help students identify and express emotions constructively, develop empathy, and decrease bullying. The pilot group is just drawing to

20% of children and youth will suffer from a diagnosable psychiatric disorder but less than 20 % of those afflicted will receive treatment.

a close, but the children appear to have made gains and plans are already underway to run the group at two sites next fall.

Group Programming for 2012

Assessment Services for Students of all ages

Cornerstone Counselling Centre offers Cognitive/Learning Assessments and Emotional/Behavioral Assessments.

Anger Management

In this course participants will learn how anger affects their bodies, minds and behaviors. They will be able to understand the anger response, how it affects others, identify their anger patterns and how to break the patterns, and then replace them with a healthy model of assertive

anger.

Marriage Preparation

In this 2-day course, couples will understand the important role of expectations in marital satisfaction, establish effective ground rules, discover the essential ingredients of satisfying long-term relationships, and develop effective problem solving. They will also learn how to maintain a

satisfying physical relationship, communication skills, and discover effective ways to say “I love you”.

Stress Management for Women

Understanding stress helps shed light on the incredible power that our minds have over health, well-being, and relationships. Stress is a personal issue, although there are universal causes. Clients will learn and practice skills to help lower their level of stress.

Communication Skills

This one-day workshop presents practical communication tools and techniques. Participants will learn how to deal with friends, spouses, parents, children, and co-workers in an effective manner that promotes understanding and reduces stress and tension.

Psychodynamic Group Therapy

This group is designed for patients with moods disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, etc. Through this process they will gain the insight that fosters self-growth and increases self-esteem.

Managing Moods and Dealing with Drama

As your child moves into their teen years, there may be times when you wonder where your happy kid went. Although mood swings can be a normal part of a teen’s development, they should not dramatically alter a child’s personality. This group is designed to help teens

understand their mood and manage problems.

Couples Communication

This workshop is for couples to develop and manage their communication skills to build strong, enjoyable

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.

Mother Teresa

relationships. This workshop ensures more ease in resolving issues, conflicts and differences.

Christian Marriage Preparation

Marriage requires planning, preparation, and intentional actions to grow and build into a relationship based on love, respect, and life-long commitment. This course uncovers several tools to establish a stable foundation that will mature into a life-long romance.

Soulfull Nutrition Counselling

Cornerstone is pleased to have Leanne Johnson working with us. Leanne is a registered dietitian with an incredible desire to serve her community. She is volunteering her time to work with selected clients who are struggling with issues surrounding nutrition, body image, and eating disorders. We consider ourselves privileged to have Leanne helping our clients in this way.

Making a Difference in Our Community

We are planning our 2012 programs and services with the goal of reaching out to people in the most effective and efficient ways possible. Every day

people come through our door seeking help because they feel their lives are unraveling. We offer them a safe place where they can talk about their issues in a nonjudgmental atmosphere that supports them to make positive changes.

Although the confidential nature of our work makes it difficult to share

but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[a] Galatians 5:13-14

detailed stories, we can confidently say that we have helped children cope with grief and loss, learn to identify and manage emotions, and recover from abuse or neglect. Teens have been helped to improve self esteem, manage their emotions and deal with suicidal thoughts. Men and women have recovered from losses, rebuilt relationships, and learned to work through depression.

People suffer when they are plagued by grief, lack of meaning, broken relationships, or painful memories. Difficult life experiences can create crisis points that can knock a life off course or be the catalyst that moves someone toward growth and healing. When a person walks though our doors, they are often confused and overwhelmed. But they also have hope, however small, that their lives can be better. Our counsellors nurture this hope and strive to extend the love and compassion that Jesus demonstrated. Together the client and counsellor create an environment where healing and transformation can take place.

Extending the hand of compassion for 35 years.