Black woman in denim jacket and pink scarf smiles at and stands with a brunette woman with Down's syndrome outside.

About Us

Cornerstone Inclusion Services provides community-based attendant care to adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities across the Portland, Oregon metro area. Our Direct Support Professionals help individuals become happier and healthier through self-advocacy, independent living skills and community building. We are a Medicaid-funded provider agency working through personal agents and service coordinators to implement individual service plans (ISPs) designed to help clients reach their goals.

Born to Deliver a Different Experience

Cornerstone started in 2016 after our founder, Carrie Russell, had worked directly with ID/DD clients for five years. She envisioned a welcoming, responsive agency focused on finding and placing the DSP who can best serve each client’s unique needs.

In our experience, complicated bureaucracies and needless administrative layers don’t benefit our mutual client, so we’re structured to be highly efficient and hassle-free. We’re also a place where DSPs and other team members can truly thrive, feeling supported and heard throughout their professional journey.

 

Blonde woman in glasses smiles at a handicapped man in a blue shirt who is laughing and sitting at a kitchen table drinking coffee.

Committed to Core Values

The Cornerstone culture thrives because we embrace an attitude and spirit that nurtures respect and
growth. As a team, we always strive to be:

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Creative

Thinking outside the box; always willing to find a way and be different

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Joyful

Doing the serious work our job demands while also having fun, embracing the lighter side of life and laughing at ourselves whenever we can

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Supportive

Here to serve and care for our clients — as well as CIS staff and everyone else in the community-based direct support system

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Empathetic

In touch with the challenges of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities; a safe, welcoming agency that sees and respects people’s experiences and circumstances

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Responsive

Excellent communicators, quick to respond to needs and answer questions

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Reliable

Consistently keeping our promises and delivering on — and often exceeding — expectations to ensure success

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Empowering

Committed to helping individuals become happier and healthier by reaching their highest levels of independence and self-esteem

Meet Our Executive Director

Carrie Russell is a native Californian who found her calling due north in beautiful Oregon. While attending Portland State University, she volunteered at Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp, a stay-away camp that helps empower kids and adults with developmental, intellectual and physical disabilities. This transformative experience made her rethink her professional path, opening the door to working with two other agencies before starting Cornerstone Inclusion Services in 2016. As an agency owner, Carrie loves finding clients a DSP they truly connect with, and taking exceptionally good care of her team. She’s an avid reader, travels whenever she can, and, along with her husband, is a proud parent to two kids and five dogs.

Brunette woman in orange sweater (Carrie Russel) sitting in a room with houseplants, smiling for the camera.