Today on The Ministry Growth Show, we sit down with David and Cynthia Heaton from Cornerstone Ranch. Cornerstone Ranch is a ministry that serves people from the special needs community. In this episode, we discuss the challenges of fundraising for a unique ministry that is working with an underserved population, we spend some time discussing the importance of storytelling, and we talk about helping an audience shift mindset and perception through education. The outside perceptions about the special needs community don’t always align with the realities that people with special needs have value, and worth and are created in the image of God with skills and abilities that He wants to use. David and Cynthia share their heart to see that change. Enjoy!
Transcription:
SPEAKERS
Zachary Leighton, David Heaton, Cynthia Heaton
Zachary Leighton 00:37
Well, welcome back to the ministry growth Show. Today on the show. I’m going to be joined by David and Cynthia Heaton, David’s the founder and executive director of Cornerstone ranch. And Cynthia serves as Director of Operations. Guys, thanks so much for being on the show. Thanks.
David Heaton 00:53
Fabulous. Glad to be here.
Zachary Leighton 00:55
Can you tell us a little bit about Cornerstone Ranch, what you guys do? What the ministry is all about?
David Heaton 01:00
Yeah, for sure. Cornerstone is a hone a day program for adults with special needs. So that’s things like Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, and it kind of answers this big question of what happens when people with special needs graduate from high school? And unfortunately, there’s not a lot for them. And then the eventual question becomes, what are parents going to do as they age and they can’t care for their adult children with special needs? Where do they go? What do they do, and we kind of felt like that was an issue and and felt like people with special needs weren’t living the abundant life that God created them for. And so we started cornerstone. And so we are on 42 acres in McKinney, Texas. And we have for adults with special needs that live there. 24/7, we provide care. And then we have a day program as well on property in an activity center and about 42 people with special needs come throughout the week. And they do therapeutic art class ceramics workshop, we have a giant organic garden, we go out into serve, serve in the community. So yeah, just a great program, helping people with special needs, understand that they are created in God’s image and can be valuable members of the kingdom.
Zachary Leighton 02:16
Awesome. So that’s a bit of a unique ministry. How’d you guys get started in that? And maybe if you can share some of the things that you’re particularly excited about, about what God is doing through cornerstone?
David Heaton 02:29
Yeah, we can kind of walk you through the story. It is very much a story of God’s faithfulness. And I think like, like most good stories, it starts with a girl. So we were a freshman in college, and I saw Cynthia walking down the hall. And she was wearing a young life shirt. And I came to Christ, her young life when I was in high school. And so I said, Hey, I did young life. And she said, Well, I’m gonna young life thing right now, do you want to come? And I thought she’s cute. Sure, I’ll go. And she said, Well, it’s not typical, you know, young life ministry, it’s for kids with special needs. And I thought she’s still cute, I’ll still go. And then we walked into this room, and we just get rushed by about 30 teenagers with special needs, and neither of us have family members with with disabilities at all. And so this was very new and different for us. And it was a little intimidating, and also very beautiful at the same time. And God just did a work in our hearts that day. We were again, just freshmen in college and God kind of open our hearts to the whole special needs world. And we just very quickly understood that they need to understand God’s love for them that that a whole lot of them can have a saving understanding of Christ’s sacrifice for them. So our college experience was very much, you know, how can we hang out with our friends with special needs? Not so much like frat parties are? But how can we get kids to go to camp with us? And who can we take to the movies this weekend? But kind of during that time, we understood those things that I talked about previously of understanding, like what happens to them after high school, you know, unfortunately, you know, the vast majority of people with special needs when they graduate high school where there’s really nothing for them. So you know, we see the 1% that’s maybe bagging groceries at the supermarket. But 99% of everyone else with a disability is kind of sitting on a couch being babysat by the television. And then when their parents can’t care for them anymore, they get thrown into a state system. That that has not not great care. There’s there’s a few good state funded homes out there, but for the most part, they are they’re very safe. So we just felt like God was calling us to do something more. And so we got married in between our junior and senior year in college. And so right when we graduated, we took in three of our young life kids They were just a couple of years in business. So we were 21 and instantaneous parents of three. And it was great. It was it was a little messy, like, like acts of God often are in human form as we try to delve into to our callings. But but it was great, we loved it when on full time staff, with with him live doing disability ministry and brought these three guys into our home. And it was it was amazing, we love it. But soon realized it wasn’t just these three that were kind of from rough home situations that led them to us. But it was really a you know, everyone with special needs, you know, kind of went across socio economic lines, that everyone was dealing with this what happens now, after their their children graduated high school. So we did a lot of praying, and we bought 42 acres, just kind of on a outside rural edge of of the Dallas area, and built this home. And that kind of started our whole journey for full time Cornerstone where it is now.
Zachary Leighton 06:11
Well, it’s already such a unique ministry, and you guys are working in a space that’s such an underserved, underserved part of ministry, right, like the special needs community is so underserved. I don’t know much about that space. But from what I’ve heard, it’s just incredibly underserved. And so you have that uniqueness about this ministry, but then also to have you guys who don’t have some type of upbringing or family history that had a special needs background, that me seems to make it even more unique. Like, in most cases, it seems like that I’ve run into people get into this community or this serving this need, because, oh, you know, I have special needs background with my family, or a sister or brother or whatever it is. And so that’s just really cool to see. You guys, God working in your hearts early on, and saying, This is what I have for you and being obedient to that, even though your experience didn’t play into that at all.
David Heaton 07:15
Yeah, you know, I think God was very gracious in the fact that he brought us both together at the same time, you know, it’s not, so wasn’t my particular calling that I kind of drugged her along, or, because she had a brother or something, and, and I had to kind of join in unwillingly, but I was very gracious, and that he kind of opened our hearts to this simultaneously together.
Cynthia Heaton 07:39
You know, just seeing God’s hand in all of it has been really motivating for us, I think in ministry, because I think it’s kind of a little, again, off topic, but being married and ministry can be a challenge. But, you know, knowing that God had orchestrated this, like he placed us in that, to, you know, come together to do this ministry, and something that David didn’t really touch on, like one of the really neat ways that God kind of began to formulate this dream inside of us was, we were traveling to a conference in college, this worship conference, and we were driving past all these fields. And at this point, we’ve already been doing the unlife ministry with people with special needs for a couple of years. So we kind of knew that there was this need, but God just really like miraculously gave us this, like vision at the same time to do something, like really bold and crazy, you know, for this community. And so as we’re driving, we both just get dropped this vision inside of our hearts too. And I think, I don’t know who said it, but one of us just like, we were silent for like, 10 minutes. And then somebody said, what if we did something? What if we, you know, built a community, for people with special needs, where they could be empowered to live the abundant life that they were created for? And so we began just like, in that moment, like writing down what the volunteer program could look like, and how we know how we would just build this community. And so God just dropped that in our hearts. And so you know, what, one of the questions that you asked is like, what are we excited for? You know, and, you know, because we see God working in amazing ways right now. And we’re so but the vision that God has given us for Cornerstone goes far beyond what we’re doing now. It is a it is a crisis in our community, for adults with special needs, where they can truly be, you know, equipped and empowered and CO labor you know, with us in their callings, like giant out those gifts and callings that they have to, for them to impact the community alongside with us. And so, you know, we’re excited because we’re in the beginning stages of expansion. And so we right now currently have one home, but we are actively working towards that vision that God gave us to have multiple Little homes and Activities Center and, you know, all the
David Heaton 10:04
different rec center and Chapel, therapeutic greenhouses, you know, for gardening program. And so yeah, we’re, you know, we’re a step into a big vision.
Zachary Leighton 10:14
That’s awesome. Cool. Good for you guys. You talked about earlier, the stepping into ministry is usually a messy process, right? And so, can you guys share some of maybe the unique challenges and struggles that you’d have? You’d have you’ve had to deal with as you started the ministry and as it’s grown, and what are the some of the things that you’ve run into as, as you’ve built this vision and idea that the Lord gave you?
David Heaton 10:45
Yeah, I think some of them are unique to Cornerstone and some are probably things that everyone out there experiences that are common to ministries around I think you need to Cornerstone is, is trying to just help people understand the special needs world. I think a lot of a lot of pastors, and a lot of people doing ministry in general, or just the church overall, maybe doesn’t realize kind of the situation. And I think unfortunately, the church has abdicated its role to the government, and said, well, taxpayers cover that don’t don’t our taxes go towards this, and they provide homes, and I don’t have to worry about it. Because the government does it and
Cynthia Heaton 11:29
realizing that that’s such a desperate need. And known like that people with special needs have this looming future, unless the church or someone steps in to provide the care that they desperately need.
David Heaton 11:45
Most people say most demographers look at about like three to 4% of any given population is not going to be able to live independently because of a developmental disability. So you can take that, that three or 4% of the community that you’re living in right now and apply that and just see. And that’s, that’s a lot of beds, that’s a lot of housing that that all these communities need to provide. And so, so yeah, I think
Zachary Leighton 12:12
that’s pretty consistent across country and culture. And it’s just, wow, yeah, very
David Heaton 12:17
much. So there’s some certain disabilities that that maybe impact different cultures and again, socio economic backgrounds, but advancements don’t. It’s, it’s pretty broad. So, so I think education and having the church understand that. So just the volume of the need, then that there isn’t anyone else providing that need, that there is no, you know, big government that’s just going to take care of all this for us. But that it really is the role of the church to step up. So I think that’s, that’s something that’s maybe a little unique and common. And then I think as well, just getting to the point, helping others understand that we want to get to the point where we view our friends with special needs as CO laborers. You know, with Christ in this, or for Christ in this, rather than just some people that should be pitied. And we pat them on the head, and we send them on. Yeah. So I think that’s, you know, an education piece as well that we try to talk to people about, when we share stories, that we’re that we’re trying to help them understand that that they that we can view our friends, as brothers and sisters in Christ, not just women, that should be pitied.
Cynthia Heaton 13:39
They’re uniquely gifted, you know, for ministry like they themselves. And I mean, we, we like to move people along what we call like the five stages and going from that place and just pity to co laboring, and I think everyone kind of fall somewhere in between. But that’s really important. And then David was talking about how there are things that are kind of common to all ministries. And so when that we really just like operationally and functioning, doing 24/7 care, it’s really easy to burn out. And so it is it is one of our challenges is how do we care for our staff well, so that they can continue to provide the abundant life that our friends were created for. And then the other challenge is just like living in community. I think human beings are challenged in and of themselves, to really be graceful towards one another, and
Zachary Leighton 14:41
within family.
Cynthia Heaton 14:43
Totally. And I think that that’s a challenge within ministry, I think we’re kind of held to a higher standard because we really want to represent you know, God’s kingdom on the earth and to shine the light of you know, his truth and so working you know, in unity and like really considering our And the staff at Cornerstone Ranch, like we’re the body of Christ and so to daily take up, you know the cross of what we’ve been called to in ministry, but to do that with grace and humility and compassion towards one another, and because we just feel like that’s part of the abundant life is living with those Kingdom realities of, you know, kindness and love and compassion and care to one another’s is really important, but it can be challenging because it’s stressful.
David Heaton 15:27
Yeah, I think, you know, all our staff, nail it when it comes to self sacrificing compassion towards our friends with special needs. But sometimes it’s harder to do that with your neurotypical coworkers. So it’s
Zachary Leighton 15:45
interesting. You guys talked about the idea of moving your audience’s perception of people with special needs from this idea that they’re their people to be pitied to co laborers. What are you guys doing? What have you done? What have you found successful in educating that audience to have that shift in mindset?
David Heaton 16:10
Yeah, I think our program speaks to that. You know, we do an art show every year in which a bunch of people from the community come out and see our friends artwork, and it’s amazing, and it’s great work. And so I think that’s one thing that opens people’s eyes are like, okay, they have some talent here, they have some things they, you know, you know, Laura might have a little slurred speech and be hard to understand. But she has an understanding of perspective, in art and beauty, the is far beyond my own. So things like that.
Cynthia Heaton 16:50
I think like getting people to Cornerstone getting, you know, the community, in front of people with special needs, kind of taking down those barriers that we have, you know, maybe it’s fear, it’s ignorance, whatever we don’t, if you’re not around people with special needs, you’re gonna have a lot of different perceptions that most likely are true. And so to really kind of bring that barrier down by getting people connected to Cornerstone getting out to the ranch. And then also the other part of that is taking our we call them ranchers at Cornerstone all of our participants that come to our program, we call them ranchers. So giving our ranchers into the community is also very important. And so one of the big pillars of our operations is really serving the community, our friends, serving the community, and so we participate in Meals on Wheels. Um, in the past, we have gone to churches and full bulletins, but any thing that we can do, we partner with other nonprofits, to get our friends with special needs into the community serving others, because, again, that that moves that perspective and shifts people to really come to understand that they are created with the capacity and the ability to not only be creative, and, you know, understand art, but to also serve others just as you know, we’re called to serve. Our friends are also called to serve others,
David Heaton 18:14
I think, I think when when people see oh, they’re serving more than I do, and kind of flips the the idea on its head of like, oh, we need to serve them. But then instead, we say, No, we’re gonna go on serve, like they have gifts, they have talents, they might work a little slower. And some things we might not be able to do some certain things that others do. But we’re not just going to sit back and be on the receiving end of service, but we’re gonna go out and make an impact on our community. And I think when people see that, and they interact with it, it does help them understand better. Yeah, and I think that speaks to a lot of different types of ministries of people that might hear this one day of, if you’re doing, you know, ministry with homeless if you’re if you’re working with different groups, that people do typically just jump to some certain conclusion, or a very thin embodiment of what that person looks like or their experience. I would just encourage people to get face to face interaction as much as possible. Because no one tells that better than the actual people that need to break some of those stereotypes themselves. So yeah, getting getting interactions huge,
Zachary Leighton 19:28
then that’s awesome. Thank you guys. I want to shift a little bit to one of the topics that we discussed offline was this idea of calling. And so I wanted to ask you guys what advice you guys would give people who are trying to discern their calling, obviously, sounds like early on, there was an obvious call place on your guys’s hearts. And so you’ve had some clear experience with this. And so what would you say to that?
David Heaton 19:54
Yeah, I want to try to have a balanced response to this. Because there’s different types of things. people out there that are going to maybe lean one way or the other, maybe a little bit too much. In some sense, if I feel like if people think they’re being called to something, then then I say, be bold and go. The big thing I would encourage is just being faithful in the small things, rather than, you know, feeling, hey, I have to go, you know, talk to a lawyer and get my 501 C three nonprofit setup. You know, what can you start with today? What can you start with tomorrow and this weekend? And how can you be faithful to what God’s laying on your heart that way, because he might be calling you to something, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re called to start a full organization. To do that, it’s actually more effective to do it just in your life naturally, than to start a whole separate entity or to duplicate an already existing entity. It’s better to engage and help an existing entity. So in some ways, I say go do them and encourage people to be bold if they’re if they’re feeling called to something. Um, but yet there is, you know, some sense of an need to stop and listen a little bit, you know, and confirm that this calling aligns with the Word of God aligns with what you feel the Spirit is speaking use of being able to have some quiet space in your life to really listen to the direction of the Holy Spirit, but then to wise counsel and mentors. You know, when when we first kind of had this vision, we were we were ready to go full bore right away. And, and a wise counselor said, Well, what if you just did it in your own home? First, what if you brought these three guys rather than going in building a separate home and doing all that right off the bat? What if you brought these three guys into your home first and understood what a future home would even need to look like? Before you go try to build it? You know, what, if you go around and visit, you know, all around the state all around the country, visit other programs that are doing this. So, so yes, go and be bold, and do but at the same time, slow down and listen to wise counsel to see what other people have done, how they’ve had success, how they failed. We host people from all around the country every year come out to cornerstone to try to replicate and see what they can how they can do something like that. And we really appreciate being able to tell them, hey, we’ve had 16 years of triumphs and failures. And in here they all are, and we write them down and help people think through some of the pitfalls that might happen. So I think finding other other folks that have done what you were feeling called to do, is is really, really important.
Zachary Leighton 22:54
Now, man, that making space to or creating space to be quiet and listen and spend time just sitting with the Lord. without the distractions of the world. I I have seen firsthand the the value in that. But also recognize how difficult that is in this, especially with the Ministry word where we all tend to want to, like there’s a lot of burnout, right? We’ve talked about that already. Pastors burning out all over the place, executive directors burning out. And so we have this, especially maybe in the West, this propensity towards doing and doing and doing and striving and being driven, and the stepping aside and creating space to be quiet with the Lord, and seek Him and sit with him and listen to what he might be saying where he might be leading. That’s a hard thing for us to do to set a time that time and space. And so I’ve seen both sides of it, like I’ve seen the value of it, I’ve done that, but then also actually going out and making that a normal practice is a struggle and a difficulty. And I think that that is consistent across a lot of ministry directors and leaders that I’ve talked with and met. So what are some things that you guys have done that have that you could share with other ministry leaders that like setting a time, space and and time to go and sit with the Lord and listen and be quiet? That you might be able to add value to them?
Cynthia Heaton 24:29
Yeah, I just would just highlight again, like how important that is. I mean, God created, you know, our weekly cycle with the day of rest, you know, like it’s how God kind of patterns that for us. And I think that it’s important that we follow that pattern because burnout is it’s gonna happen. We experienced that after five years of doing Cornerstone ranch living full time. You know, before we had a team, the team that we have now it was just David and I and so
David Heaton 24:59
forth. We carry on while running the nonprofit while trying to raise money while doing
Cynthia Heaton 25:04
counting. Do any children that were you know, we had three kids along the way. And so it was very difficult and not taking that time to really have that Sabbath rest begins intentional with our time with the Lord, we began I mean, I think for us it even caused like some confusion is like Cornerstone became like this idol or this idea of like, if I’m not doing this well, am I really serving God? You know, it was just very confusing. I think
David Heaton 25:36
I there’s a there’s a great Shane and Shane song that says when serving you replaced me knowing Yeah. And that was highly highly convicting to us. Serving this, this cause replaced us knowing and in some weird, twisted way became an idol. Whereas, however, cornerstone was going was somehow equivalent to my relationship with God. And so yeah, so. So it’s important.
Cynthia Heaton 26:07
And so yeah, when we have to do, we had to like completely step away, we took. So we were like, Okay, we gotta hire someone to come in here, we had some staff that were with us from the beginning, that kind of took our position like in the main house, and because we lived full time on property. And so we took some time away, and literally had to remove ourselves from the Ministry just remain on the floor to make sure the mission, you know, was there and it didn’t completely stop. But then we took a full year like, we were thankfully able to do this, we took a full year of a sabbatical year, where we just rested, and got to know each other again, and got to know the Lord again. And then our role at Cornerstone kind of shifted and changed, we were on the board at that time. And that kind of was our role for the next five or six years. And then four or five years ago, we’ve stepped back and operationally and now are in the kind of evolves, we are now. But God had to really do you know, a work in our hearts and kind of equip us for this next season in this next phase of ministry. But it was during that time that we really kind of understood the importance of abiding in that, as you were even saying that a second ago, like John 15, just kept coming, you know, in my hand of what Jesus says, I’m the vine, and you are the branches like a Biden, me, because apart from me, you can do nothing, you’re not going to bear any fruit. And so like, again, I cannot stress enough the importance of making that time setting aside every week, you know, setting time aside to, to care for your marriage. And that one thing that we were told early on, or at least I don’t know, if you remember this, but it’s like your ministry is only as effective as your marriage, you know, and like how to, like, really protect and guard and keep this relationship because in Biblical understanding like this is the relationship that best reflects the image of God. So we’ve really got to protect that.
David Heaton 28:13
Now, I would say that’s important in board recruitment, elder recruitment is that they understand that, I think if you’re if your board or your elder crew doesn’t understand that, then then there needs to be some work in education and helping them Yeah, understand that, that you you will burn out and you’ll be gone. And in your organization, your ministry will suffer for it. If they aren’t on board, and they aren’t willing to support that.
Cynthia Heaton 28:42
And I think for us, you know, because of our experience with burnout, like it really better equipped us to be able to care for our staff. And so how do we implement you know, what we’ve learned into caring for our staff? Because that’s really one of our top priorities. Like, yes, we are called to, like, our mission is to empower adults with special needs to live the abundant life they were created for. But if our staff isn’t experienced that abundant life, how can we expect them to be able to pour that into our ranchers that we serve and so it is like one of our highest priorities as an organization to provide abundant life for our staff. And so we do that, I think, kind of practically on an organization side of having really clear expectations, and really clear job descriptions and then also just providing like all of the HR you know, things like everything’s in order, their structure, their strategy, there’s positions, there’s roles, but then on the other side of that that we are pouring into them spiritually. We are providing them with plenty of paid time off. We are giving them great benefits, you know, health benefits like we We’re taking care of their physical needs and their spiritual needs, and making sure they’re having time and understand the priorities of family. And that, you know, there we there’s no needs just like really lay your life down to the point where you don’t have a life, you know, like, if you understand, you have to take care of yourself. And so it’s a priority for us.
David Heaton 30:21
Yeah, we just I mean, God is SM to lay their life down, not so the organization can trample on them. God has asked him to lay their life down in an act of service for their friends. Yeah, not so an organization can take advantage of their willingness to receive low pay or not have structure or something like that. I know it seems sterile to talk about HR, in in the context of ministry, but it’s so important if they understand that they understand you know, how the organization works, who do I go to when I have an issue with this? Or that? How do I advance an organization? How does my pay scale work? And will it ever change? And how would it change? And, and so those are all our basic kind of HR things that that are really necessary so that people can focus on their ministry, rather than worrying about the chaos of an organization?
Zachary Leighton 31:19
Yeah, and I don’t think it’s terrible to talk about those things. In fact, I think it’s something that is not addressed enough within the Ministry world. And so yeah, I just want to thank you guys for being so transparent about that in those early years is you realize, man, this is not going to end? Well, we continue at this pace. So thank you guys, for being transparent. I want to shift a little bit one more time. But before we end, but in your experience, what does it take to start a ministry from scratch, particularly one like Cornerstone that’s so unique?
Cynthia Heaton 31:57
Yeah, I think the major thing is faith and obedience. You know, if God’s calling you to something, to continually go back to that truth, and to not depart from that, you know, I think you look at biblical examples, like God calls us to fate, the causes to obedience, and sometimes we don’t know the full picture of what lies before us. But we’re called to move in faith because God’s trustworthy, he, I mean, and that’s where we keep our focus. It’s like, you know, God is faithful. And we can walk in His faithfulness, as we, you know, step out and obedience. But I think like practical things,
David Heaton 32:39
yeah, I think it is a support system in place. And so I think there’s, there’s organizational support that comes again, through a board of directors or an elder board or deacons. But But I think even personal support that goes beyond that, just knowing that you, whether it be family or close friends, that really are going to be there for you, does wise counselors that are going to be there for you personally, as well as is vital. Because what may start as something you feel like you can handle on your own. I think typically the way God works is it doesn’t always remain that way. And it’s it is a quote unquote, God sized vision, you know, something that’s bigger than your own power. So having a strong support network around you, and a humility and willingness to, to listen to them, and to take advice and to be humble throughout the process is so important, for
Cynthia Heaton 33:37
sure. Yeah. And I think, you know, I was thinking as he was talking, like, that perfect balance of boldness and humility, of like, stepping out with bold faith, but also being humble enough to, like David said, You’re not going to be able to do this on your own. Like, if this is a God, calling in a god vision than, yes, he’s equipped you, and He’s called you, but it’s his, it belongs to Him. And so like, just that humility of having open hands and being willing to pivot or transition or, or move how he got he calls you. And one thing that I also learned early on was that, like, when we started and I was like, we’re gonna live at Cornerstone ranch forever, you know, we built the house, like with our kids in mind, that we’re going to be here and then, you know, like I said earlier, like five years in we’re like, we’re burnt out maybe that this isn’t how it’s going to be. And God, you know, at that point was showing me that he’s working in seasons and that we shouldn’t hold too tightly to things, you know, with our hands open, trusting in the process, trusting in just his timing for everything. You know, like David’s very visionary, like he sees it and, you know, sometimes when you’re so visionary, you want it to happen right away. But you know, the, a lot of times it’s a journey in you’re having to overcome Some challenges you’re having to learn, you’re having to have that own personal growth along the way. And so just trusting that God’s faithful and the timing,
David Heaton 35:08
taking a taking a stewardship mindset of, Hey, God, this is an amazing ministry you’re building here, if you have someone else that you want to run this shown to me, bring them, you know, replace me whenever you want, I’m a steward of what you’re doing here. And, and that’s it, or someone that’s more equipped, or better skilled in these certain areas, for these for different aspects of the ministry, than I’m willing to move on to whatever you want me to do. So I think, thinking when we see ourselves as stewards, rather than, than founders, or owners, and we’re the ones responsible for everything, we start to edge God out of the picture a little bit.
Cynthia Heaton 35:55
Afterwards, say like, another thing that’s always been super motivating for me, um, when things are hard, and when they’re challenging is to just have a kingdom mindset. You know, yes, it belongs to God, it’s for God. But even like, and I think this goes for everything that you do in your life, whatever ministry God’s called you whether it’s just in your workplace, or you’re starting, you know, a nonprofit treating illness, whatever it is, is that it is all about God’s glory in advancing his kingdom. So when everything that you do rolls up to that foundational truth, then it’s motivation to work through your question, whatever problem you might even see.
Zachary Leighton 36:40
Now, you guys mentioned at the beginning, you are with young life or or Youth for Christ, your life for a few years. Okay, so as you started this ministry, did you were you able to come along in partnership with them to help and have them help you get this thing kicked off the ground? Or was a new thing altogether? What did that new thing
David Heaton 37:00
completely separate it? You know, you left does an amazing job, but they are definitely focused on teens and rice. And we were kind of working with folks as they were moving out of that phase into adulthood. And so it was just a different mission.
Zachary Leighton 37:16
Okay, okay, cool. Have you guys found it difficult to fundraise in this space, like this already unique ministry on top of the fact that you’re working in an underserved space? There’s not a lot of that you’ve got those skewed or or mis represented perceptions that we talked about earlier? Is fundraising, difficult.
David Heaton 37:40
Fundraising, I think it was more difficult. Definitely early on. You know, again, yeah, like you said, people don’t understand necessarily the need. But then also, there’s a lot of funds to raise when you have really low staff to participant ratios. And that’s what we need, you know, some ministries, you can have, you know, one staff person to 20, or 30, or however many people are serving, but for the special needs world, some of our folks need a one to one, folks need someone standing right by them all day long, because they might have a seizure and fall and hit the ground. So there has to be someone right there all the time. And some are, you know, more of a one to three ratio, one to five ratio. So there’s a lot of staff, which, you know, is our biggest expense. And so there’s there is a lot of money to raise. The issue, I think in with foundations and certain traditional funding mechanisms is that our numbers, you know, aren’t as high, you know, they can think Well, I can give a few $1,000 here, and I’m going to serve a it’ll be a school lunch program that’s going to serve 1000s, which is good and great and necessary. More you can give 1000 or 2000, or whatever to Cornerstone and it’s only going to serve a smaller number of people. So yeah, I think that was difficult at first until people understood again, like the intensity of the care that we provide, and the staff ratios to make that happen in a safe manner. And, and I think the way around that has been telling stories, and retelling is really all we do now. And I think it’s important for ministries to focus on, not so much their own story. I found that our donors, they they don’t care as much about organization or organizational goals. And I’ve had very, very few people over the years ask me, you know, to look at our finances or anything, they want to know the stories of impact people give to impact and urgency. And that’s about it. You know, yeah. And so, you know, our people have amazing stories and God is transforming their lives in very tangible ways. And so if we can tell those stories, verbally if we can share those stories by having our friends with special needs is having, you know, face to face contact, and then you know, video is a great thing as well, as we can share those stories with people, then they just get it, you know, they see it and, and what, you know, somebody might not have been comfortable before or might again, again go back to the piti idea, you know, something that might have been? Well, I feel sorry for this whole thing, I’ll throw a couple $1,000 your way, all of a sudden becomes someone who wants to give 50,000 or $100,000? Because they’ve gotten into the story and see the great need.
Zachary Leighton 40:35
Yeah, man, you’re speaking my language now. That’s so cool. That’s good to see that you guys are doing that. And that was going to transition into one of my next questions as far as like, how do you communicate to your donor base? And what are you doing? Specifically in that fundraising space? Can you share? Well, the skip down to the next question, because you kind of answered some of those earlier ones. But what are some of the ways you’ve seen story and storytelling have a positive impact in your ministry and fundraising? And can you share maybe a story or two, that you’ve seen God work to transform real life that you’ve shared with your audience that has resulted in them saying, Hey, I see the need, I see the value in what you guys are doing? We want to be a part of that, whether it’s financially or through volunteer work, or, or otherwise?
David Heaton 41:26
Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, we’ve had a lot of great successes in those speak well, but we’ve had some hard times, and we’ve had some tragedy with some of our purchase bins and their families. And, and I think that has resonated you know, we have a young lady that that lost her mom, and you know, she has special needs, and her mom had passed away, and her dad was really set up to care for her. Well, they had been divorced for a long time. And so, you know, when her mom came to us and said, Hey, I have the stage for cancer diagnosis, and I don’t know where my daughter’s going to go. And we were able to say, hey, we’ve got her, you know, it’s okay. And she was able to pass away somebody was, was there that the day before? You know, and some of her last words, were I’m so glad, you know, my daughter has a place. And so to be able to share that with people. And I think people, particularly mothers just resonate so much. With under, you know, that idea of, hey, I want my kids to know that the you know, I’d want to know that my kids are safe. I want to support this organization that’s helping that helped this mom know that her, you know, kid was safe. So I think, you know, we like to think that everything we’re doing is so unique and so specific. But God has all wired us with some, some very basic, compassionate motivation. And I think there’s different ways in which all our ministries, no matter how unique, they may seem, all come back to some of these foundational systems God has placed in all of us. And so if we can tell the stories, particularly not to manipulate, but because they’re true for life, if we can tell those stories that resonate, you know, you know, telling someone about how art class helps hold a paintbrush, which also helps hold a fork, which helps one of our young guys feed himself. That’s really cool. But it doesn’t always resonate with everyone, right? Because it doesn’t go it’s, it’s functional. And it’s practical, and it’s important. But as it doesn’t get to that core level of understanding of humanity, I was I was an English teacher for a while. So you know, we asked an English class, all these questions of what does it mean to be human? You know, what is what is our purpose on earth? And I think, really, that’s what it comes down to is helping our donors and our supporters understand how we’re answering those questions with with our participants.
Zachary Leighton 44:10
And that’s incredible. Thank you guys for sharing. I think that’s about all the time we have. Can I pray for you guys in your ministry? That’d be great. All right, father, I just lift up David and Cynthia and Cornerstone ranch. And thank you so much for all that you are obviously doing through these two and their obedience to you and their amazing ministry. Lord, you’ve given them an incredible vision and dream. And as they continue to dream and cast vision and build towards the future of what could be I pray that you would guide and lead them that they would make sure that they’re taking that time to step aside and be silent and hear your voice and follow. You’re leading in your direction. Thank you so much that we get to be a part of what you’re doing that you’ve been divided us into this redemptive story. And in all the unique and amazing ways, father, and so, yeah, thank you for all you’ve done through Cornerstone ranch and David and Cynthia and we just pray that this this episode would be of value to ministry leaders that they would see that. That the insights and expertise and experience that David and Cynthia have, would just encourage somebody shine light on something that maybe a ministry leader out there is struggling with, or or feeling burnt out, that they will share this and be encouraged. Lord, we love you. And thank you so much for all you’re doing. Jesus name, amen.
David Heaton 45:45
Amen. Amen.
Zachary Leighton 45:47
All right, guys, thanks so much for being on the show. We really appreciate it. And yeah, we’ll be in touch. If people want to get a hold of you, or learn more about Cornerstone Ranch, how can they do that?
David Heaton 45:58
Yeah, just the websites the best way. It’s Cornerstone hyphen, ranch.com.
Zachary Leighton 46:04
Okay, cool. All right. Thanks, guys.
David Heaton 46:07
Thank you so much.
