Greater Cornerstone Community Center Development Project

Greater Cornerstone Community Center Development Project
Community Center construction could be completed by Spring, 2012. The Community Center estimated $7.1 MM construction and operational endowment contains 20,698 square feet of space and is located at this Tulsa address: 5601 S 41st West Ave.
The Greater Cornerstone Community development receives non-monetary assistance from the United States Justice Department in the conversion of residential properties, forfeited by drug convictions, to rehabilitate the New Haven neighborhood. Nine (9) properties were assigned to Habitat for Humanity to build five (5) homes, initially. Over 75 homes are built to date, requiring Habitat homeowners to work at least 300 hours on their home as the down payment and assume no-interest loan payments on a home mortgage, to take possession. Greater Cornerstone Baptist Church assigned the parcel of land to the Community Development project to establish the Community Center.
The Executive Director, Rev. Willard L Jones', efforts for over six (6) years brought the corporation, foundation, non-profit organization, church and private sponsors together with a common philanthropic goal for the development project.
The project mission is to "break the cycle of poverty for needy families in West Tulsa" by providing a central place to serve as a facilitator for community development by providing a safe, welcoming environment for the delivery of medical and dental examinations, family and youth counseling, mental health assistance, food and clothing distribution, job skills training, and after school programs including tutoring and computer training.
The project goals are to provide information to local residents about available services, space for Social Services agencies to deliver aid, a food pantry to meet nutritional needs, clothing distribution to provide assistance, recreational activities to offer wholesome exercise and cultural events for the South Haven neigbors and West Tulsa area.
Community Center Services
Planned services at the community center are delivered by the following partner organizations: Domestic Violence and Intervention Services, Goodwill Industries, Camp Fire USA, Family and Children's Services of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, a health clinic operated by Oklahoma State Unmiversity Bedlam Clinic group, A Pocket Full of Hope, and Association Centers for Therapy.
* Family and Youth Counseling
* Job Skill Training
* Medical, Dental, Vision Screening and Mental Health Assistance Services (via Associated Centers for Therapy (ACT), Creoks Behavioral Health, and other providers);
* Social Services (via Family and Children’s Services, Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS), and Goodwill Industries job training programs);
* Youth Leadership & After-school Programs (via Camp Fire USA and the Tulsa Public Schools);
* Food and Clothing Distribution (via Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and similar agencies)
Planned facilities include a community shelter with generators and locker rooms,
full-size gymnasium with a basketball court and a performance hall stage with lighting and sound equipment.
Project History
The initial stages of the Greater Cornerstone Community development within the New Haven addition to Tulsa, Oklahoma on the West side of the Arkansas River, was an arrangement with the United States Justice Department, in cooperation with the District Attorney for the County of Tulsa, to transfer, in 2005, the deed of nine (9) properties forfeited by drug convictions in 2000 of the residence occupants upon the former property owners to (the) Habitat for Humanity and other plats to Greater Cornerstone Baptist Church via the US Operation Goodwill program, which promotes law enforcement positive cooperation with the communities they serve.
The church deeded the parcel for the community center to the Greater Cornerstone Community Development Project non-profit.
Of those properties where the houses had not burned down, the houses were removed and the Habitat for Humanity organization built almost 100 new residences for impoverished families to become the homeowner upon completion of the guidelines established prior by the Habitat organization with the head of household.
On Thursday, August 12, 2010, a project fundraising campaign kickoff event at the downtown Tulsa Mayo Hotel in which Willard Jones announced that the remaining $1.8 M funds will be realized via matching funds from corporate sponsors, with the matching public fundraising deadline set to October 12, 2010. In addition to corporate donor and non-profit foundation sponsors in attendance, Mark Graham, the CEO and President of the Tulsa Area United Way and Stephen Dow of Community Action Project attended the event.
Corporate and Organization Donor Sponsorship
In addition to hundreds of individual sponsors. the following are corporate and non-profit charitable organization sponsors of the development project: Greater Cornerstone Baptist Church, Grace & Franklin Bernsen Foundation, Carbondale Assembly of God, Chapman Charitable Trust, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Hille Foundation, Mabee Foundation, Sarkeys Foundation, and Zarrow Family Foundations.
The Greater Cornerstone Community Development Project receives no government funding, at any level, for the construction project and real estate acquisition, which was assigned to the project by the Greater Cornerstone Baptist Church.
Groundbreaking Ceremony
On Monday, February 28, 2011, the community center groundbreaking ceremony
provided a tangible event to the participants and the evidence of progress by a section of the foundation in place and the utilities placement markings.
In attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony
for the Community Center, was Pastor Willard L. Jones, Executive Director of the Greater Cornerstone Community Development, and Pastor Philip Taylor, GCCD Board Member and Senior Pastor of nearby Carbondale Assembly of God. Of the major contributing sponsors, those attending were: Donald Pray of the Grace & Franklin Bernsen Foundation, Andie Doyle and Donne Pittman of the Chapman Charitable Trust, Mary Ann Hille and Shirley Martin from the Hille Foundation, Susan Frantz of the Sarkeys Foundation, and Bill Major of the Zarrow Family Foundations. Tom Maxwell, President and CEO of FLINTCO Industries attended the groundbreaking event. Of the elected officials in attendance: City Councilors Maria Barnes, Roscoe Turner and Rick Westcott, County Commissioner Karen Keith. Rick Westcott was the City Councilor for the location's district.
Local Cultural History
The New Haven community was the sanctuary area for the residents affected by the Tulsa race riots of 1921, fled to here during the fires of the business district, currently the Tulsa Greenwood District, labeled, at that time, as the Wall Street for Black American business investors.

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