Under the guidance of co-leaders, Alexandra Ward Fellow, Angela Francis, and Cornerstones' project manager, Don Sena, the mud-plastering work project at El Rito was vintage Cornerstones! A small but capable group of volunteers from the community turned out with enthusiasm and vigor. Father Joseph, seen throwing dirt into the mixer, was so enthusiastic that, at the end of the workshop he broke out a bottle of wine and gave everyone a cup to celebrate the effort! The lunches provided by the community made everyone feel welcome and appreciated. Local volunteer, Mariano Trujillo, seen working on a corner, provided welcome expertise. The cadre of volunteers had masks when they needed them and followed social distancing guidelines during the work but assembled quickly for a photo op the last day.
La Capilla de San Antonio, Chacon, NM
Robbie Kelly and Santiago Vigil, Mora County youth adoberos took responsibility for the repairs needed at the church. Alexandra Ward Fellow, Angela Francis, was able to oversee the project from a nearby private plastering job in the village. Robbie and Santiago are pictured working on the walls. The Mayordomo, Adam Byrd, took care of the roof repair. Needed plaster repairs on the walls were completed at the end of September and the church took on a renewed fresh appearance.
Fort Davis National Historic Site, Texas
A final two weeklong workshop to stabilize the stone foundations of the warehouse at Fort Davis was led by master stone mason, Alan Ash. He started the work in the Fall of this 2019 and went back this September to finish the project. While volunteers were not solicited due to the virus, several showed up anyway. Park staff jumped in to fill the void and Superintendent David Larson spent several days on the job learning masonry skills. Work will begin on the nearby adobe barracks ruin in coming weeks.
San Miguel Chapel, Santa Fe, NM
The mud plasters at San Miguel first applied in 2010 are still intact. The north wall has not be touched sine 2011. Twice a year we check the parapets for deterioration and react if needed. Alexandra Ward Fellows, Angela Francis and Issac Logsdon, and Cornerstones’ project manager, Don Sena, accomplished this year’s parapet capping repairs October 1-3, 2020. This little bit of maintenance much like cleaning out the gutters on pitched roofs makes all the difference in keeping the 400-year-old adobe chapel in good condition.
Supporting Community Fund
Supporting Community has funded two projects for True Kids 1 to support at-risk youth during the pandemic. True Kids 1 is a youth media education nonprofit, located in Taos, New Mexico. Their mission is to promote digital citizenship and open career paths for youth by providing media skills, tools, and opportunities. Their vision is to transform education through media production for social change.
The first funded project supports a Social Media Campaign which invites youth to create and submit short videos about themselves, explaining what they like or do not like about online learning, talking about their “quarantine” experiences The goal of the Campaign is to amplify student voices, let them know they are not alone and to use digital technology to foster positive connections.
The second project to receive support is Direct Engagement, an initiative in which 2 carefully chosen youth leaders personally reach out to fellow students who are not showing up for online learning classes to find out if they are OK, connect them with resources and information.
As always, Cornerstones appreciates your support and welcomes your donations as the COVID-!9 pandemic continues. Please visit https://www.cstones.org/donate for more information.
