Archive | June, 2018

Financial Independence Day 2018

By Jonathan Young on 6/24/18 in Chapel Hill, Durham, Events, General, Highlight

Celebrate Community and Financial Independence

You are invited to CEF’s annual Financial Independence Day, Saturday, July 7th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm at Umstead Park in Chapel Hill! It’s a community cookout with fun activities to acknowledge and celebrate the fight for freedom from financial burden. We’d love for you to come and be a part of the:

Community Cookout: Chilli, Pasta Salad, Hot-dogs, Veggie Dogs!
Raffle with Prizes
Beautiful Crafts
A Showcase of talent! (poetry, song, dance, or anything else)
Expressing what financial independence means to you!

RSVP here: https://goo.gl/forms/oyBKbBNBXSJbXizI2

Photographs from Last Year’s Party!

Featured in “Make a Difference” Magazine

By Jonathan Young on 6/13/18 in General, Highlight, In the News, Member Advocate Story, Story

CEF is featured in the Spring 2018 edition of the Triangle Community Foundation’s “Make a Difference” Magazine!

Read the Full Story

Started as an undergraduate organization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), CEF very quickly grew into an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit to meet increased demands. [CEF has] built numerous community relationships, engaging in broad-based partnerships due to the cross-sectoral nature of the work. What makes CEF unique is their relationship-based support in delivering financial services that achieve equity.

In order to sustain transitions out of homelessness, CEF combines financial services and holistic, one-on-one coaching. Advocates at CEF do not just sit down and explain how to read a credit report. Instead, advocates and volunteers collaborate with the same people for years, working together to see the long-range progression from severe and acute instability to financial stability. The relationship-based nature of the work is evident in the community credibility CEF has built. “Almost 50% of our new members hear about CEF from word of mouth. The work we do is so intimate, it’s really helpful to have that immediate credibility.”

Maggie-We-Love-You Party

By Jonathan Young on 6/5/18 in Advocate Story, Events, General, Highlight

“I just want you to hold on for a minute and live in the fullness of what it is to be a part of community—an endless and abundant family, with unbounded opportunities for connection. And to feel the way that each of our hearts is so connected, and that each of us is just so ready, to be loved and to love. That feeling is what I take away from my time at CEF and it’s the greatest gift of my life.”

— Maggie West, CEF Co-Founder & Co-Director 2009-2018

It was hard to find a dry eye at the “Maggie-We-Love-You” Party! On Saturday, June 2nd, CEFers gathered to celebrate almost 10 years of deep dedication and vision that Maggie has shared with the CEF community as Co-Founder and Co-Director.

The day was filled with so many mystical moments, imbued with meaning and drenched in love. Here are just some of our favorites:

A Community Yard Swap organized by Maggie’s family! Many of us brought treasures to share, and walked away with a bag or basket full of treasures that was new to us. 🎁
We co-created community art projects to chronicle beautiful time shared together—one a gift for Maggie, and one for display in our Chapel Hill office. We also put together a scrapbook with notes of appreciation and blessing for Maggie. 🎨
The Advocacy Choir sang one of Maggie’s favorites (Lift Every Voice and Sing), and wrote a special new song (based upon Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road”) to share our special blessing with Maggie! 🎶
The helpers of an anonymous Elf delivered to Maggie a gift from 30+ friends, family, and co-workers: a plane ticket to Peru! There, we hope that Maggie can get some well-deserved R&R, share time with her community there, and continue discerning the next steps in her journey! ✈
We shared good food, including all kinds of offerings brought by guests, as well as some CEF party staples (like Maggie’s coleslaw recipe)! 🌭
In honor of the creative savings initiatives that Maggie has ideated at CEF, a real-life pig named Sugar made a celebrity appearance! 🐷
Maggie invited us to join hands, to be present with the fullness of CEF as a community. (See the video above!) 🧀❤

There is no greater way we can say thank you to Maggie for all that she has done at CEF, other than to lean into her invitation to “live in the fullness [of] what it is to be a part of community—an endless and abundant family, with unbounded opportunities for connection.” Thank you and we love you, Maggie!

Special thanks to the Jackson Center, Bread & Butter, and to the countless people that showed and contributed to make this celebration so unforgettably special!

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