Thanks for coming to the Party on April 13th!
CEF Spring Celebrations 2017
Author Archive | Jonathan Young
We’re Hiring!
CEF is seeking an Advocate Program Coordinator! In this position, you will coordinate the activities of 60-80 volunteer Advocates and 4+ volunteer leadership teams for CEF’s Durham County programs and services. You’ll serve as a key leader for CEF’s overall programming in Durham County also collaborate with CEF’s Chapel Hill office to shape volunteer training and programming with a counterpart program coordinator.
Click Here to learn more about the position and to apply!
CEF Speaking at TEDxUNC April 2nd!
Presented at the 2017 TEDxUNC event at Memorial Hall: CEF’s Co-Founders / Co-Directors sharing the transformative story of a group of college students and shelter residents who built a community organization and financial tools that support sustained transitions out of homelessness. The CEF Advocacy Choir sings to close out the talk, with an original song about the joy of finding a home after experiencing homelessness.
photographs by TEDxUNC
Join us Sunday, April 2nd from 1-2pm at UNC Memorial Hall to hear Co-founders and Co-Directors Maggie West, Jon Young, and Janet Xiao share the story of how a student group transformed into a non-profit and a community that strives together towards better solutions and supports for individuals experiencing and at-risk of homelessness. The CEF Advocacy Choir and will be unveiling a new celebration song, that captures the joy of moving from homelessness into housing.
TEDxUNC is an all afternoon event from 12-6pm, with speakers of all kinds speaking about topics related to the idea of home. CEF’s presentation will be at the end of the 2nd section called “Boroughs” that is happening from 1-2pm. Please come at 1 pm if you can to catch our talk!
You don’t need tickets to attend – it’s open to the public at Memorial Hall. Hope to see you there!
Members and Advocates, join in a special part of the talk by singing with the CEF Advocacy Choir. Contact us at (919) 200-0233 or reach out to Yvette at yvettem@communityef.org to join in!
DUKE Today: Partnering for Homeownership
Seven Duke employees, including Strahm, bought homes last year with help from the Homebuyers Club. Thirty other employees received Homebuyers Club certificates because they completed at least eight hours of homebuyer education classes. The certificates can qualify the employees for additional financial help from the club’s community partners such as Habitat for Humanity, which builds affordable homes for low-income families; Reinvestment Partners, which provides housing counseling; the Community Empowerment Fund, which offers savings opportunities and financial education; and SunTrust Bank. These partners, along with Duke staff, help employees on the path to improving their credit, saving money, and connecting with lenders and realtors.
#28 – CEF TED Talk – April 2nd! Members Join Together
This Issue:
- CEF on the Radio
- Durham Members – Let’s Get Hope
- We #CelebrateSavers with Behavioral Economics!
- Advocate Training Courses at UNC and DUKE
CEF Highlighted in Common Cents Lab Annual Report
“We are honored to have partnered with CEF in this effort to improve Americans’ financial decision making.”
— Dan Ariely, Common Cents Lab Founder
“Community Empowerment Fund is an innovative and thoughtful partner that is creating real, meaningful improvements in the financial well-being of the most marginalized members of the community.”
— Mariel Beasley, Common Cents Lab Co-Director
“With Community Empowerment Fund, we redesigned goal-setting for clients who are homeless or in transitional housing, creating a process to recommend savings goals and monthly contributions based on the client’s housing and income circumstances. Additionally, we used punch cards to track deposits toward their savings goals. Clients who received the punch-cards saved, on average, 49% of their savings goal in 6 months or less.”
Yvette’s Challenge to the OC Commisioners
Yvette sings a challenge to the OC Commissioners—repping CEF & this community’s need for affordable homes #makeroomorange
WCHL – Non-profit Showcase : CEF & Maggie West
If you were looking forward to our TED Talk at UNC, and are can’t wait to hear more about CEF—Co-founder and Co-director Maggie West was featured this month on WCHL’s non-profit spotlight! If you’ve ever wondered how and why CEF got started and what keeps all of us motivated to ‘show up’ each and every day click above to listen in!
Show notes
CEF From the Start
01:00 – How did CEF start as a student organization?
01:36 – How micro-loans turned into an opportunity to saving!
02:40 – Why some people can’t or don’t have bank accounts
03:15 – Match Savings Accounts = over 700K Saved!
03:55 – From student org into a Non-Profit!
Relationships: Members and Advocates
04:40 – How is CEF’s work really about relationships?
05:20 – How do Members choose their own goals?
06:23 – Are our volunteer Advocates trained to be experts?
06:50 – How we train 200+ volunteer Advocates?
07:20- What do we train Advocate to be able to do what they do?
Nate’s Story about Saving and Housing
09:00 – Maggie shares a story about Nate, a member working with a member to save and find housing in Chapel Hill
10:00 – Nate saves and finds a $325 studio apartment!
11:00 – What happened next after Nate moved in?
11:11 – Why the landlord didn’t immediately screen Nate out?
12:40 – “We don’t rent to homeless people”
13:40 – Why Safe Savings Account works for Nate.
Students Learning ‘A Real Big Lesson’
14:00 – What do students learn by working with members?
14:40 – What do systemic barriers look like on the ground?
15:10 – What are future doctors are learning by being an Advocate?
16:55 – What else gets students prepared for this work?
17:23 – “I don’t know how to do that but I think we can figure that out together”
17:45 – Advocates are connectors!
Getting involved: Now and the Future!
18:30 – What does Maggie see herself doing in the future?
19:08 – What can a someone do to help CEF’s work?
19:20- How does CEF stay so flexible/adaptable?
19:38 – How can you reach CEF and volunteer?
Matt Kauffmann
“CEF helped me find my place in the world. I’ve had the good fortune to leave CEF twice, first when I graduated from UNC and now as I leave the professional staff. Both times I’ve left with a truer understanding of the world, a deeper sense of my own passions and abilities, and a clearer vision for making the biggest impact I possibly can. CEF has exposed, challenged, and stretched me in ways that I cannot imagine happening anywhere else, so I give CEF a lot of credit. I’ll add that I would not have gotten into grad school were it not for CEF Opportunity Class!” — Matt Kauffmann
Matt started working with CEF as an Advocate while he was a student at UNC! After graduating he took on an AmeriCorps VISTA position at CEF as Advocate Program Coordinator from 2014-2016. During his time at CEF, he completely transformed the way the Advocate Program in Chapel Hill worked, formalizing and developing structures that deeply empowered students to take ownership of the program and consistently aspire towards excellence. He also laid the groundwork for our data-informed approach and creative fundraising efforts, and we will be forever thankful to him for seeking out and finding our new office space in Chapel Hill!
Carew’s Christmas Crew
‘Twas 2 days before Christmas, in his new home.
Mr. Carew worried he’d lose much that he owned.
His clothes, his books—furniture and more,
Were all with a storage company, closing its doors,
He worried then panicked, this problem was vast—
He’d lose all his possessions if he couldn’t get it out fast!
We called Temple Baptist and UNC APPLES,
And reached out to friends from Duke Chapel,
A big team assembled to load the U-Haul!
Rev. Mofield and MK gave the rallying calls.
From storage to truck, from truck to apartment,
The volunteers emptied the whole storage compartment.
And then, in a twinkling, it was finished and done —
Many hands made light work, and they even had fun!
What wonderful folks, arms strong and hearts true,
Came out to move in dear Mr. Carew.
‘Twas a holiday miracle and a grand ballyhoo!
From the bottom of our hearts, we truly thank you!
**A special shoutout also to Snehan and Jake, the two Advocates who supported Mr. Carew in his housing search!
