Faith and Family: Never Out of Style

At The Cornealius Properties, we want to become more than just a face and name to you, instead, our hope is to become family! 

What you see at the venue today is the product of many, many years of hard work - our literal blood, sweat, and tears. But we wouldn’t change it for the world! 

Out of the many projects our family has been a part of over the years, THIS by far is our favorite. This is our dream come true, and it’s our absolute pleasure to share it with each and every one of you! 

But there’s a lot of the story you have yet to hear. We hope in sharing more of our journey with you today, that you can feel inspired and encouraged. 

One thing our family will always stand by is that faith and family never go out of style. That is why we are standing here today. It’s at the core of all we do. 

If we were to trace our steps and recount what led us to this point, all signs would point straight to our owners, Don and Joann Neal. 

Don and Joann began paving the way for The Cornealius Properties from the start of their marriage. In the midst of raising two daughters and having full-time careers in the mental health sector, they invested in real estate. Soon after they got married, Don and Joann bought a rental property that would then help them build roots and raise their family in their dream home! 

In the mornings, you could find Joann in the kitchen cooking breakfast while dressed in professional clothes and her hair still in curlers. Meanwhile, Don would be running around getting the girls ready for school - he got quite the practice doing the girls’ hair (ha!). Anyone relate?!

“As an adult, I look back and think WOW they are freaking awesome! How did they do it all??”

- Brooke Freeman

Over the years, Don and Joann continued to acquire properties in the community, most of which were foreclosures or in very bad condition. The couple, along with their two young girls, fixed them up together. It was always viewed as a family project. 

When the family wasn’t working on remodels, Don and Joann spent much of their time bettering the community in their respective fields of human services. After working for a number of years, the couple became the new owners of Waynesboro Family Clinic. 

Don and Joann spent many long days giving people hope where it seemed long gone. Connecting individuals with resources, and getting them on a better track. Loving people through addiction, homelessness, etc. has been something that the couple has done for years and continues to do even now. 

When Don was working at the clinic full-time, he spent most of his time in two areas. The first was marriage therapy. He was always honest with his clients from the beginning and told them that he would be counseling from a Christian point of view. If they weren’t comfortable with that, he would gladly refer them to another therapist.

His coworkers would go around saying “Don loves love”.  He stands behind the fact that even though marriage is hard work, it’s worth the work. 

And in his free time, Don loves to set young people up together! Most recently was Halle Clark Lee and Blane Lee, who both work at Waynesboro Family Clinic. The coolest part?! They got married at The Cornealius Properties!! 

Along with marriage therapy, Don also devoted much focus to children with a focus on family. Often this meant coming alongside children who were in the adjustment process of their parent’s divorce.

Thinking back on it, our family has walked through a lot. You can find even more of our journey on the “Our Story” tab on our website. 

But to sum it all up, we’d simply repeat that faith and family are two things that remain constant for us. We chase our dreams together. 

We’d be the first to tell you that it’s God who has blessed us with the opportunity to continue blessing our community (and beyond!) through The Cornealius Properties. He has been so kind and gracious to us. 

Although we give ultimate credit to the Lord, our journey has also been filled with being bold and taking crazy risks in order to chase our dreams. Some have called us crazy, but look where we are now!

If anything, we hope that our story encourages you to trust God’s timing while also chasing your dreams. People may call you crazy, but so what! In our experience, all of the crazy has led to incredible blessings.

As a family, our deepest desire is that our love for each other and for the Lord is clearly evident from the moment you step on our property. Our hope is for all to be loved here, and for this place to be a reflection of His goodness.