Click here to see a slideshow of pictures from the CEF Holiday Party 2014!
CEF Holiday Party 2014
Slideshow of pictures from the amazing party held on December 4, 2014 and co-hosted with Love Chapel Hill (major thanks for their sponsorship of the great food at the event!).
Thank you to all the members, advocates, partners, and friends who attended, and major kudos and congratulations to all of the CEF graduates who were recognized during the ceremony.
Happy Holidays!
Robert is a grandfather, a Marine Veteran, and a natural-born leader. Sophie and Jenna are UNC undergraduate students, and his CEF advocates. Combined, this trio is a force to be reckoned with.Earlier this year, Robert chose to leave a full-time, salaried job in Kinston, NC to move into the homeless shelter in Chapel Hill. He left behind his home, his community, and his livelihood.
Why? “I was just working for the drug man and the rent man. And by me being a functional addict, I wasn’t going to lose my job. I had to make a decision, I had to make a choice to give up everything, start from scratch, get out of the environment I was in and try something new.”
“In CEF you get a chance to get yourself back. I had lost myself – I had lost me. Thanks to CEF, they brought it all together,” says Robert. “Sophie and Jenna have been with me from the start, and they’re almost like my little daughters. By them keeping me motivated, and by me keeping the fire going myself, and them seeing me making progress, like getting a job and seeing my savings go up, sometimes I look at them and it’s like seeing a kid looking at the Christmas tree. You can see the light in their eye getting brighter and brighter.”
Jenna and Sophie see their relationship with Robert as a life-long friendship. Reflecting, they shared, “We have a relationship beyond that of a member and advocate team, we are truly a family. The support that we offer Robert is far surpassed by the moral and emotional support Robert continually showers us with whether he is reminding us to take some time for ourselves or reading us excerpts from one of his favorite books, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. I never leave an advocate-member meeting without feeling inspired and loved, no matter how stressed I am.”
“Over the past year we have watched Robert graduate from Opportunity Class, find a job, reach 80% of his savings goal, strengthen his relationship with his family, peers and most importantly, himself. Robert’s accomplishments have been more than earned and fill my heart with so much joy and hope.”
Likewise, Robert’s heart is filled thinking back on how far this trio has come on their journey. “I look back to where I was a year ago, and now I’m so far on my goals. You can’t imagine how good I feel, the pride I got back to myself. There’s no way you could imagine…”
This is the text of a truly lovely Christmas card we received at the CEF office this week.
Our hearts burst with appreciation and a sense of mutual gratitude for this member’s kind words…
Christmas 2014
Dear all the wonderful CEF advocates,
This holiday season is a special one for me because I got to meet you! Some of you know more about me than my own family… difficult for me to admit it. It wasn’t easy for me to open up, especially to people I barely knew, but you managed to cheer me on and help me without any judgment. I had to look deeply within myself and ask, “What do I need help on so I can repair and build myself and move forward to living an independent life?”
Trust is earned. And you definitely earned not only my trust, but my respect and my friendship.
I’d like to express my deepest gratitude for all your hard work, above all for not giving up on me. I pray the good Lord will also extend his kindness and love, and shower you with many blessings… not only this Christmas season, but for many years to come.
With love and deep gratitude,
-CEF Member
Christine Costello is a senior at Duke University planning to attend graduate school for social work next year. She has been a CEF Advocate for almost two years, and we are thrilled to share her reflections on her experience here!
By: Christine Costello, Duke University Class of 2015
I began what has extended into a long relationship with the Community Empowerment Fund the summer after my sophomore year. As a summer intern, I was able to immerse myself in the day-to-day of this organization; an opportunity that taught me not only an incredible amount about the non-profit world but also about the members I worked with and about myself.
From one-on-one meetings with members, my eyes were opened to the harsh realities and institutionalized marginalization that members faced. For example, several members that I worked with had been encouraged to attend for-profit colleges in their adolescence, believing that this would be the route to a better salary and life. Since our society constantly touts that hard work and education are the way to self-improvement, it isn’t hard to see how enticing the possibility of school was and is for these members. However, these for-profit college businesses often trapped members in debt they were still accruing dozens of years later. Looking at the hefty debt that one member had hanging over his head from this attempt at education, it was hard to not feel helpless and duped. This meeting made me realize how integral a well-informed support system can be for individuals, support that (due to my situation in society) I have received my whole life. Meeting with this member also revealed how devastating the consequences can be when an individual is excluded from these forms of support. Working with this member towards a solution to this debt crisis, and simply spending time with him, showed me that I wanted to dedicate my life to contributing to such support systems.
On a different occasion, Janet – knowing my enthusiasm for gender equality – paired me with a new CEF member who had recently fled an abusive relationship. Now severed from her bank account, home, and social connections, which had all been controlled by her partner, she was seeking a sense of security and independence that had so vehemently been denied her in the past. Her situation was dire, as the time period following fleeing an abuser can be particularly perilous from physical, emotional, and financial standpoints. Feeling the weight of this member’s upward battle served as my impetus to meet with the Durham Crisis Response Center, Durham’s comprehensive shelter and support provider for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. This meeting, due to enthusiasm on both parts, has given way to a partnership that will provide financial literacy coaching to those seeking asylum at the Center.
It is through meetings with members such as the two I have mentioned that I have come to decide to pursue an education in social work. CEF’s mindful approach to collaborating with members and meeting them where they are at has shown me how effective compassionate care can be. CEF also continuously reminds its staff, advocates, and members of the purpose of the organization, words that lie in its very name. To be a community for all involved that offers empowerment through practical services. The community and experiences that CEF has supplied me with have certainly empowered me towards my dream of becoming a social worker.
Hear from Stephanie Colorado, a junior at Duke University majoring in Public Policy and Psychology who began volunteering as a CEF Advocate in September of 2013. Stephanie has been an amazing student leader in CEF, and we are delighted to share her reflections on her experience here…
By: Stephanie Colorado, Duke University Class of 2016
When I began volunteering with CEF, I was immediately captivated by the organization’s focus on forming meaningful relationships to empower individuals to take control of their own financial and life goals. Being a CEF advocate developed me personally and professionally, and has been a priceless experience.
As an advocate for CEF, I form memorable friendships with my members as we partner together in forming goals and finding ways to reach financial independence. One of my best memories was working with my member, Linda. Every Monday night, I would head over with other advocates to the women’s transitional home in Durham and worked with Linda in finding employment and creating a budgeting plan. Her sense of humor and motherly personality was something I looked forward to every week. As I taught her how to write a resume, she taught me how to cook! Forming friendships with individuals outside of my college campus has been a refreshing experience, as it allows me to look beyond momentary troubles, such as exams and essay due dates, and put value on more important life issues, such as health and economic security.
In addition to giving me the opportunity to form relationships and contribute creatively, CEF gives me a perspective on real policy affecting real people. As a Public Policy major, I get a watered-down academic understanding of social policy, but while working with CEF, I witness policies and their consequences in action. I see how food stamp cuts, health care opportunities, and the availability of Housing Choice Vouchers influence my members’ ability to transition out of poverty. Working with CEF fortified my interest in social justice and it forces me to think critically of the effects of public policy in a community. Thanks to my experiences being an advocate, I hope to find a career in the non-profit sector working with people experiencing a disadvantage. I love working with people and would like to be of service through public interest law.
Dear CEF Friends & Family,
Being a part of CEF is being a part of a family that knows no bounds, and I feel that more than ever during the holidays.
I feel that family around me when I see a man who only recently moved out of the shelter inviting everyone he sees in the CEF office over to his house for Thanksgiving dinner. “No one should feel alone and unloved during the holidays,” he says.
I feel that family around me when I see two CEF advocates from UNC spending the night in the hospital with a CEF member who was in a bicycle accident.
I feel that family around me when I witness a CEF member speaking to our volunteers during training, saying he had become convinced that society no longer cared about African-American males like himself, until he walked into our office.
And wow. I got married this October, and I felt that family around me with incandescent grace. I received all kinds of amazing gifts to celebrate our wedding, but being honest with you, the gifts that truly brought me to tears were from CEF members. A sweet card with $10 tucked inside from an unemployed man living in the shelter, a flower made out of clay by the daughter of a member who recently moved out of the shelter, and a member who pledged to make a donation to CEF in my honor, and is making that pledge in “installments” from each of her paychecks through the end of the year. I simply bow my head and cry.
There is no other word to describe the CEF community besides family – with all the complexity, messiness, forgiveness, and love that goes along with it. And this year the CEF family did some amazing work together: 115 members gained employment, 65 moved into independent housing, and 256 members have now saved $270,000 towards personal goals. And all throughout the year, 250 volunteer advocates provided person-centered support to 420 members.
This holiday season, we hope you will make a gift to CEF – a gift that keeps giving, and giving, and giving, and knows no bounds. Thank you, from all of us, for your partnership and support.
With joy and gratitude,
Maggie West
Program Coordinator
Robert is a grandfather, a Marine Veteran, and a natural-born leader. Sophie and Jenna are UNC undergraduate students, and his CEF advocates. Combined, this trio is a force to be reckoned with.Earlier this year, Robert chose to leave a full-time, salaried job in Kinston, NC to move into the homeless shelter in Chapel Hill. He left behind his home, his community, and his livelihood.
Why? “I was just working for the drug man and the rent man. And by me being a functional addict, I wasn’t going to lose my job. I had to make a decision, I had to make a choice to give up everything, start from scratch, get out of the environment I was in and try something new.”
“In CEF you get a chance to get yourself back. I had lost myself – I had lost me. Thanks to CEF, they brought it all together,” says Robert. “Sophie and Jenna have been with me from the start, and they’re almost like my little daughters. By them keeping me motivated, and by me keeping the fire going myself, and them seeing me making progress, like getting a job and seeing my savings go up, sometimes I look at them and it’s like seeing a kid looking at the Christmas tree. You can see the light in their eye getting brighter and brighter.”
Jenna and Sophie see their relationship with Robert as a life-long friendship. Reflecting, they shared, “We have a relationship beyond that of a member and advocate team, we are truly a family. The support that we offer Robert is far surpassed by the moral and emotional support Robert continually showers us with whether he is reminding us to take some time for ourselves or reading us excerpts from one of his favorite books, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. I never leave an advocate-member meeting without feeling inspired and loved, no matter how stressed I am.”
“Over the past year we have watched Robert graduate from Opportunity Class, find a job, reach 80% of his savings goal, strengthen his relationship with his family, peers and most importantly, himself. Robert’s accomplishments have been more than earned and fill my heart with so much joy and hope.”
Likewise, Robert’s heart is filled thinking back on how far this trio has come on their journey. “I look back to where I was a year ago, and now I’m so far on my goals. You can’t imagine how good I feel, the pride I got back to myself. There’s no way you could imagine…”
