Farewell from Fernwood: Victoria's Cornerstone Caf has closed

After 12 yearsas a popular meeting spot, the Cornerstone Caf in Victoria's Fernwood neighbourhoodserved its last cup of coffee earlier this week.

The caf, a non-profit run by the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group, was a catalyst for neighbourhood revival.

In 2005, the building on the corner of FernwoodRoad and Gladstone Avenue was derelict and home to squatters.

When the Fernwood NRG first bought the building, Lee Herrin, the group's executive director, remembered that it felt like a gamble.

"We took a big risk as an organization in purchasing a boarded-up building," he told On the Island's Khalil Akhtar. "At that time, the neighbourhood was really struggling."

The neighbourhood's living room

The gamble paid off. The Cornerstone Caf openedand became a local hub. More commercial tenants came to the building, and the NRGopened affordable housing above the caf. Herrin said that stable income let Fernwood re-invest in the neighbourhood, hosting regular community dinners and creating a sense of stability.

"All the things we wished for have happened," said Herrin.

"There's friendships that have been formed, relationships, probably a few marriages, maybe even some divorces,"said Herrin. "It really has been a stage on which the neighbourhood has lived out its life for the last dozen years."

New tenants, same mission

Nowit's time to move on, and in characteristic fashion, Cornerstone ishelping a neighbour.

Nextmonth, the space will become the new home of The Parsonage Caf and FernwoodCoffee. The Parsonage, which is currently just a few blocks away from Cornerstone, was looking for a new homeafter facing a rent increase.

Herrin says while the caf's name willchange, the Cornerstone building will stay part of the social fabric of Fernwood.

"For many, many years to come, the neighbourhood will have the same living room, just different ownership."

You can hear Khalil Akhtar's full interview with Lee Herrin from On the Island here:

With files from On the Island.