Every person deserves a place where they are welcomed, valued, and able to fully participate in the life of their community.
The Cornerstone Fund offers financing to help churches and non-profit organizations address a range of building-related needs, including accessibility improvements to support inclusion of people in all aspects of your mission. The Cornerstone Fund offers a variety of financing options for building accessibility improvements, including:
- Elevators
- Ramps
- Accessible bathrooms
- Sensory rooms
- Technology for hearing & visually impaired persons
- Other building modifications
We couldn’t do this without our investors! Here are a few project examples we’ve helped finance to make spaces more welcoming, inclusive, and accessible for everyone.
Sixth Avenue United Church of Christ – Denver, Colorado
Sixth Avenue United Church of Christ’s building was constructed in 1923 and despite its 100 years of service and its mission of welcoming the community, the building never had a wheelchair-accessible bathroom. The congregation was aware that not only did this exclude members of its own parish life, but it also limited many rental events such as weddings and recitals. They watched for years as those events went elsewhere because of the lack of an accessible bathroom at Sixth Avenue UCC. What’s more, many businesses and nonprofit organizations are barred by their policies from holding events where there is no accessible bathroom. Sixth Avenue UCC knew that the addition of an accessible bathroom would allow them to better serve the entire community.
Thanks to our investors, the Cornerstone Fund helped the church finance the construction of a new accessible bathroom – seen in the photo above.
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Faith United Church of Christ – New Braunfels, Texas
Faith United Church of Christ in New Braunfels, Texas, provides a central fellowship location for the community, as well as a home for its outreach efforts around local and national social justice issues. Aging and inaccessible facilities, however, impeded their core mission of being a welcoming congregation committed to social action.
Thanks to our investors, the Cornerstone Fund helped finance the church’s renovation of the sanctuary to include a ramp to the stage/altar space and flexible, accessible seating.
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St. Paul’s United Church of Christ – Chicago, Illinois
One of the five oldest churches in Chicago, St. Paul’s aged building lacked the infrastructure that would make it fully accessible and welcoming to everyone in the congregation and the community at large. In 2020, the congregation embarked on its “Creating Accessibility for All’ plan, which included installing a five-stop elevator will make the facility usable for people of all abilities, as well as redesigning and constructing a new and accessible courtyard space where numerous church and community events take place.
Thanks to our investors, the Cornerstone Fund helped finance the church’s major renovations, and the congregation unveiled the changes in the fall of 2025.
