A program for young adults providing educational, vocational, and emotional growth opportunities.
Our Team
Cornerstones of Maine is the result of a labour of love for our two founders, Josh and Jake. It is independently owned by them and was established on the foundation of their desire to create a young adult transition program that is based on mental health research and experience. Not only are they the founders, they are also part of our core clinical staff.
Life Skills Team
Kelly Reynolds, CHWC, CLMC
Life Skills Manager
Kelly is a Certified Health and Wellness Coach with a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her focus lies in creating and supporting a culture of emotional well-being and resiliency. Kelly has been involved in coaching since 2017 after spending over 20 years in Retail Management. She is an avid biker and fitness enthusiast who hopes to connect her passion for physical activity with the Life Skills mission.
Emily Gendron
Life Skills Coach
Emily is a Maine native, born and raised in Aroostook county. Emily is a trained life coach and has a Bachelor's Degree in Behavioral Science from the University of Maine in Fort Kent. During her personal time, Emily can be found outside with her dog Roxie, spending time with friends and family, and doing a wide variety of crafting projects. Emily recently started learning about Kundalini yoga practices and hopes to learn how to play the ukulele in the future.
Laura Savard
Life Skills Coach
Laura's career has focused on working with schools and the artistic community to build teaching programs, most recently as Director at a local community art center. Laura brought her experience teaching and engaging young people to Cornerstones in our life skills department, where she seeks to engage young people to build real-world skills informed by executive functioning research. When not helping our residents to organize, motivate, and act effectively, Laura is working on her art in her private studio. Laura continues to strive to inspire and connect people through art and her practice of Native American traditions. Laura is a proud mother of two and a resident of Maine for over 20 years.
Teri Belanger
Life Skills Coach
Teri is a Life Skills Coach at the West End with Cornerstones of Maine. She originally comes from the seacoast area of New Hampshire, but has found a real home on the coast of Maine.
Teri’s passion for behavioral and mental health comes from her background and experience in the recovery community. She has training as a Peer Recovery Coach, and involvement with Al-Anon. Teri enjoys spending her time exploring the world around her. Whether it be at home with her family cooking and baking, or getting out of the house while going on an adventure with her partner. She finds the most joy in hiking new trails, walking around parks, wandering around museums, and riding roller coasters over and over and over again.
Rory Nickerson
Life Skills Coach
Rory studied Psychology and Studio Art at the University of Maine in Orono. Since completing her degree, Rory has worked in a diverse array of clinical settings, with a focus on supporting young adults who faced barriers to independent living. For over a decade, Rory worked at Long Creek Youth Development Center where she oversaw the employment program. She also worked for many years at the Youth Services for Workforce Solutions, which covers the six coastal counties of Maine. Rory brings creativity, joy, enthusiasm, determination and humor to her work every day. When she’s not working, Rory can be found crafting and having dance parties with her daughter.
James Dionne-Dellea
Life Skills Coach
James come to Cornerstones with five years of health care experience, in a wide variety of roles and settings. Perhaps his most relevant experience has been in the National Guard where he has been able to mentor and provide emotional support to fellow lower-enlisted soldiers, who are mostly 18- 20. They tend to see James as someone they can turn to when they don't want to talk to someone in their chain of command, but still need the perspective of someone with a little more life experience. When James isn't working or pretending to be Captain America, he enjoys spending time with his beautiful family, working in his garden, or playing music.
Lisa Dafoe
Life Skills Coach
Lisa has over ten years of experience working in the mental health and residential field with both adults and adolescents. She has earned a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from the University of Wyoming and is a passionate advocate for dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Lisa enjoys working with young adults and providing them with guidance and support to achieve their individual goals and passions. She is a Wyoming native and continues to volunteer virtually with a Wyoming based organization, Uplift, where she meets with clients and their families to provide emotional support. Outside of work, Lisa enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and exploring New England.
Dillon McDonald
Life Skills Assistant
Dillon graduated from SUNY Oswego with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in French. Dillon also played on the men's varsity tennis team at SUNY. He has a background working with youth in foster care at a trauma informed agency in New York. During his time at this agency, he moved into a Safety and Wellness Specialist position. In his free time, Dillon enjoys drawing, playing video games, going to concerts, and trying new food at new restaurants.
Lindsey Collier
Life Skills Assistant
Lindsey grew up in New Hampshire and obtained dual bachelor's degrees from Ithaca College in Psychology and French & Francophone Studies. She taught ESL in France for two years, before moving on to teach French in private schools, both in New York and Maine. After years of teaching in a school setting, she began her own tutoring business working with students of all ages, one-on-one and in small groups. She spent a year as a Portland domestic violence survivor advocate before coming to Cornerstones to return to academics, while also being able to more fully apply her degree in Psychology. She is excited to empower young adults to work to achieve their goals toward independence and follow the academic or vocational pathways that inspire them. In her spare time, she enjoys getting out to explore Maine, doing yoga, cooking, and crafting.
Leslie Ouellette
Registered Dietitian
Leslie is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian in Maine, holding Master’s Degrees in both Human Nutrition and Public Health. Cornerstone of Maine contracts with Leslie to provide group nutrition education and hands-on culinary programming. In addition, Leslie provides nutrition assessments to new residents to ensure all nutritional needs are met while in the program. She is available to residents who need additional support with developing healthy relationships with food and their bodies. The last part of Leslie's role with Cornerstones is to develop whole-food based menus for the houses. As a licensed practitioner, Leslie works in tandem with our Life Skills team by teaching "hard skills" like food preparation. She also works closely with our Clinical team to help residents develop positive relationships with food and their bodies and ensure continuity of care.
Leslie has a diverse background and education that drives her approach to nutrition. In addition to running a private practice with multiple dietitians, Leslie is also adjunct faculty at the University of Maine, teaching clinical nutrition to graduate dietetic students. In her spare time, she and her husband work on major renovation projects at their camp on Sebago. One day, when she finds nutrition to be boring, she will become a kitchen designer.