Helping victims of domestic and/or sexual violence

Do you need resources or support for sexual violence, domestic violence or human trafficking? Contact Cornerstone 24/7. 

Learn about the work of Cornerstone (video of Adult Faith Formation class April 14, 2021) 

About Cornerstone

Cornerstone serves adults and children traumatized by unhealthy, destructive relationships based on power and control. Understanding the intersections between domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking Cornerstone provides comprehensive services and support for victims of interpersonal violence, helping them to build healthy and violence-free lives for themselves and their families. Immanuel supports Cornerstone financially with benevolence funds. 

An Immanuel member shares about volunteering at Cornerstone:

• “In addition to doing the monthly meals, my involvement has grown to being active in their Santa Shop at year end. This effort has involved me in helping the families find joy and love at Christmas. God works through me during that time - - and what I am able to do and how I can connect with the families has really helped me stay in touch with what Christmas is all about.“

More information about Cornerstone

 

 

2025 Update from Cornerstone:

In 2024, Cornerstone went through a robust strategic planning process. Along with this came a new, more proactive mission statement that we feel captures the goals of our work more accurately: Cornerstone disrupts violence through advocacy, support and prevention. We partner with individuals, families and organizations to build communities free from harm. Also in 2024, we continued to provide our full continuum of services to families and individuals who have experienced or are experiencing domestic violence, sexual violence, human trafficking or general crime. As a reflection on 2024, we wanted to highlight Immanuel's role in our annual Adopt a Family event. We are so grateful for your generosity! We served 76 families this year. I wanted to share some quotes with you from the families who received gifts:

• “I would like to thank the generous people that donated to us…it’s so hard to understand for many, but these gestures of love mean so much to us. Your organization has become the family I am missing." 
• "I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart! Thank you for investing in my family. You don’t know us and yet something in your heart told you to accept our list and use your time and money to help us. This year has been full of so many transitions for us. When the kids opened the gifts, I cried. My kids thought I got them the gifts myself because of how fitting they were & when I shared that it had been our friends who got them for us, my oldest innocently replied, 'You have very nice friends, Mommy.' What you did was no small gesture, it meant so much for us.”

 

Emergency Services

Cornerstone's Emergency Services program addresses the need for life saving crisis intervention and safe housing for those in imminent danger of interpersonal violence. Crisis advocates maintain a 24 hour/7 day a week phone line and ensure callers receive the resources they need, including transportation to our shelter. If pets are in need of boarding and safety, we utilize our Protection for Pets Program.

Cornerstone's 35-bed Emergency Shelter is a departure from the traditional communal-living model, instead designed with family living spaces, one of which is wheelchair accessible. This allows for privacy, respects cultural diversity and provides a home-like environment in a time of crisis. Having the shelter connected to Cornerstone's comprehensive community-based programming allows families full access to our complete continuum of services for adults and children. When the shelter is full or when shelter is not an appropriate option, Cornerstone partners with local hotels and motels in order to provide immediate safe housing to victims. In 2024, we provided 237 adults and children with safe housing for a combined 5208 nights.

 

Community and Economic Empowerment Services  (CEES)

The Community and Economic Empowerment Services Program focuses specifically on helping victims achieve both safety and long-term economic security. The program includes individual economic advocacy, financial literacy, matched savings accounts, employment planning and a variety of group supportive and educational services. All of our CEES Advocates work to help support victims as they deal with the practical problems of living that have resulted from the violence and abuse.

Cornerstone's supportive housing component, SAFE (Safely Achieving Full Empowerment), combined two years of affordable housing and intensive supportive services for 37 adults and children in 2024. SAFE families receive affordable housing as they work with Cornerstone staff to address their goal plans, as well as participate in job readiness training and financial empowerment courses. Our housing advocates also work on-site at an affordable housing complex, providing advocacy and resources to low-income families in order to help ensure they are able to maintain their housing. Cornerstone's Rapid Rehousing program served 62 adults and children in 2024 through the provision of rental and utility assistance, and ongoing support as they became stabilized.

 

Criminal and Civil Justice Intervention (CCJI)

CCJI Advocates function as a liaison between victims and the judicial system in criminal court proceedings as well as at the civil level. Cornerstone also facilitates partnerships in the criminal justice system with local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and the courts to improve the justice process and protect victims by utilizing a Lethality Screen, increasing offender accountability and developing best practices for law enforcement response to domestic calls. In 2024, we served 1861 victim/survivors in this program.

 

Day One Minnesota

Day One is a statewide program that operates a 24/7 call center, providing immediate access to safety and services for those affected by domestic violence, sexual assault or human trafficking. Day One maintains a secure and confidential online database allowing victim service agencies the ability to share information about available bed space and services. The Minnesota Day One Crisis Line immediately connects the caller directly to a safe location; annually, over 30,000 victim/survivors or concerned persons are immediately connected to an advocate. Day One also provides transportation for victims to reach safety throughout the state and provides leadership through collective victim service agencies, other professionals and community members to decrease barriers to access. Day One leads four collective Initiatives, including a partnership with Communication Services for the Deaf.

 

General Crime Program

Our General Crime Advocates provide advocacy, resources, outreach and support to those who have experienced any type of crime victimization and administers the State of Minnesota’s Crime Victim Emergency Fund. In 2024, we provided emergency funds and/or advocacy to 815 crime victims.

 

Clinical Services

Cornerstone has earned a reputation as a leader in implementing innovative services to assist survivors of interpersonal violence. Our Clinical Services program provided individual therapy and support group services to 123 adults and children in 2024.

 

School-Based Services

Cornerstone's School-Based Services includes individual advocacy and violence education and prevention presentations on topics like consent and dating violence. 10,004 students participated in these presentations in 2024 and 182 students received individual advocacy.

 

In terms of what 2025 holds, it has been a challenging year so far. Cornerstone receives 30% of our funding from federal sources and the uncertainty about whether that will continue or be significantly scaled back in the next funding cycle has caused us to pause on many initiatives and events so that we can keep cash on hand to continue to perform our core services for as long as possible.