Cornerstone Family Ministries Inc

Programs: Children's nutritional program - our child care food program recruits, trains, and monitors 176 child care centers in hillsborough, pinellas, pasco, polk, and manatee counties serving 19,219 children and 5,308,060 meals this year alone. The program targets centers serving low income children and is part of a state-wide effort to make sure children from low-income families are eating nutritious food to help them grow in mind and body. The program facilitates access for children ages birth to 12 years old to eat a nutritious breakfast, a hot lunch, and snacks.

children's early learning center & lab school (the rosa valdez early learning center & lab school) - ninety-two percent of the children at the center live at or below the poverty level. The center has a standard for high quality care, low teacher-to-child ratios, certified staff, and an enriched learning environment. In addition to a literacy based christian curriculum, the center provides developmental assessments, therapeutic services, behavioral counseling, family support, and lots of love and care for the children and families who are part of the rosa family. Although the center's goal is to prepare children for future academic success, it also strives to provide safe child care so that parents and caregivers can work or go to school to move their family out of poverty.

the cornerstone children's nutrition education - the cornerstone children's nutrition connection provides nutrition, education, and obesity prevention awareness to low income children and their families as well as program development and training around nutrition education and nutritious menu planning for the staff of the 170+ centers sponsored by cornerstone through its sponsorship of the child care food program where these children attend for early childhood programming. In addition, this program educates churches regarding the need for more places for poor children to get a nutritious meal after school and during the summer months. In fy 2016, cornerstone continued their effort to recruit and sponsor churches in low income areas to open their doors and serve nutritious meals to children in at risk neighborhoods over the summer. Cornerstone sponsored 8 sites as part of that program in the summer of 2017. Our nutritionist and technical assistance coaching staff provided over 817 coaching and training sessions to centers and summer meal partners to help them improve quality and to insure that nutritious food was served to children who really need it