“When you are with CEF, you are a part of the thread that makes us all one community.” Chinita is a CEF graduate, and her poetic statement during a CEF celebration perfectly describes the palpable connectivity in this community.
Whether we’re weaving together programs and resources to form a holistic network of support, or connecting our Members and Advocates together in people-centered relationships, CEF is steadily crafting a beautiful, interconnected, and interwoven community.”
Prosperity Now’s new “Financial Coaching Program Design Guide: A Participant-Centered Approach” is hot off the press! It’s an incredible guide for organizations interested in creating or refining a financial coaching program and it features great work and wisdom from CEF and other partners across the US! We loved working with the Prosperity Now team to bounce thoughts about what makes a good person-centered financial coaching program, and we learned a ton from fellow advisors as well!
Check out some samples below from CEF’s featured work!
Dear CEF Family,
As Hurricane Florence is predicted to impact our area in the coming days, we are actively compiling resources below to help you access safety and resources. Please make comments if you have additions or edits to share! You can access/share this resource via tinyurl.com/hurricane18cef or on CEF’s homepage communityef.org
Click Here to Access the Guide
It’s been just over a month since Liz and Leah, CEF Housing Justice Fellows for 2018, started on-boarding at CEF and shaping vision into action! They’ve jumped in and are meeting with members from all over the community to carefully discern the best steps forward for their work. They were generous enough to share some reflections for their work this year in a Q&A!
I began working with CEF my freshmen year in an attempt to engage more intentionally with the Durham community, landing on CEF because of their relationship and systems-based approach towards anti-poverty work. I’ve never looked back! I was brought to the Housing Justice Fellowship role through various conversations with the Durham staff team regarding the enormous potential for change wrought by an organized Member base. The opportunity to deepen my relationship with CEF, grow in my organizing capabilities, and continue to do ‘the work’ is truly a dream come true.
I was first drawn to CEF because of their emphasis on relationships. CEF doesn’t generalize or oversimplify about how to show up for someone. CEF creates an opportunity for people to get to know each other and say, “hey, I see you, I hear you, and I got you.” This philosophy really resonated with me and I was drawn to this role because it felt like an opportunity to be a conduit for collaboration across sectors that could spread that same spirit of support. I mean, imagine a community where the primary message we are sending each other is “hey, I see you, I hear you, and I got you.” That’s what keeps me going when the coffee wears off!
I’m working to support community, foster inclusion, and build power among and within the CEF Durham Member-base. In my role, I will act as a community organizer, convener, and advocate for the greater incorporation of CEF Member voices and experiences in CEF, Durham, and the systems that bind us. My goal can be summed up rather simply: create more Member-driven structures at CEF.
I’m piloting a Housing Locator position that will serve all of Orange County. We know that private landlords are key partners in housing justice; my job is to engage those landlords to understand the barriers they face in keeping units affordable and serving tenants who are regularly excluded from housing opportunities. Ultimately I will be a bridge between private, public and non-profit partners to come up with creative solutions that ensure affordable housing opportunities are accessible to those who need them and sustainable for the landlords and property managers who steward them.
I bring with me 4 years of CEF experience! During my time as an undergraduate Advocate with CEF, I served as the Communications Coordinator and Advocate Engagement Co-Coordinator, working to incorporate Member stories into our internal communications and organize the Duke student body around economic justice and affordable housing. I also bring with me experience organizing with Durham CAN and the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, DC. I am a people person in the truest sense of the phrase, and I am ecstatic to bring my love of stories, the people that hold them, and the power they possess to the CEF team.
I’ve worn many hats at CEF since 2015, from Member Advocate Coordinator to Training Team member to Advocacy Choir participant! My degree in public policy gives me a socio-political and racial-equity lense to housing justice and a background in economics, both of which informed the last three years of direct experience liaising with landlords and working with Members on housing. Those experiences have been steeped in the importance of relationship-based support and driven by the greatest strength I could bring to this work, a wholehearted, deep-in-my-bones, core-of-my-soul kind of commitment to finding creative and collaborative ways to make this community a home for all people.
I expect to find my daily energy through the Durham staff team: Donna, JV, Jess, and Janet. I expect to seek inspiration from CEF Members fighting the fight day in and day out at both the individual and structural levels. I expect to find renewal in our victories, whether they come in the form of increased affordable housing stock or the precious moments when a Member stands up to power and is heard at last!
I expect to absorb energy and renewal from the resilience of each and every person who walks through CEF’s doors and from the interwoven community of folks who stand up for every person’s right to safe and affordable housing. But also the other day I literally “whoopee-ed!” because a landlord responded to my email, so it’s the small things too!
There is no hiding that this work can be challenging and emotionally taxing. I know there will be days when I am tired and beaten down, wanting to give up after a poorly-attended action or a run in with a persistent and seemingly immovable instance of injustice. These moments, I am sure, will not be uncommon, nor will they grow less painful to endure. The CEF ethos, however, in its dynamic understanding of trauma-informed care, healing centered engagement, and self-care offers a unique way forward. The guiding and life-giving question becomes not “What’s wrong?” but rather “What can be better?” With this framework at our backs, we move forward.
It is no doubt that the housing landscape in Orange County is challenging at best. I’m under no illusion that I will find the magic key to the affordable units that address the massive and growing needs of our neighbors and I’m aware of the unique challenges that come with working cross-sector in a system of scarce resources. I hope to find a way forward by seeking input from community partners to understand their needs and concerns, staying relationship-centered, and finding the areas where we can support each other in building a thriving community that serves all of our neighbors.
I love CEF!!!! I’m so pumped for this year and all of its many challenges, hopes, dreams, moments of immense failure, moments of bitter success, laughs, stories, cries, shared meals, shared rides, actions, reactions, conversations, fights, and victories. I am so grateful for the Housing Justice Fellowship and hope it continues well beyond this year of exploration, growth, and hopeful progress. I’d love to hear from you at lizb@communityef.org!
I’m so grateful for this opportunity and to be a part of this important work! Not sure how or why you might have a stake in creating affordable housing opportunities in Orange County? Please reach out to me (leahw@communityef.org) ! This is a community-wide challenge and requires a community-wide solution! We got this!!
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:
RSVP here: https://goo.gl/forms/oyBKbBNBXSJbXizI2
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.”
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:
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!
CEF is hiring for a new Co-Director to join our team, working alongside Co-Directors Janet Xiao and Jon Young as Maggie West steps down from her position on the team. Learn more about this leadership transition process at CEF here.
Note from the Hiring Committee: As we continue to work to refine CEF’s leadership structure, we have updated this position description to clarify roles and responsibilities, and to offer a more competitive range of compensation.
This position’s primary responsibilities are to steward CEF’s resource development and support the Chapel Hill team. The position is one of three Co-Directors who work both cooperatively and independently to steward the organization as a whole, and in the Chapel Hill and Durham offices. Each of the Co-Directors leads specific areas of work, and as a team are responsible for fundraising, financial management, organizational development, internal operations, and communications for the organization. Additionally, the Co-Directors serve as connectors with the broader community. Read more about our Co-Director leadership model and organizational structure here.
An ideal candidate will have:
Compensation is commensurate with experience and education, with a starting annual range of $40,000-$47,000, and an additional $3,330 annually as a health care stipend that allows staff to choose their own insurance plan. A detailed description of Employee Benefits can be viewed here.
CEF is an equal opportunity employer, and strongly encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ applicants.
Please send a resume and cover letter to hiring@communityef.org to apply. Your cover letter should be 1-2 pages and speak to your interest in working with CEF, and your experience and skills in community-based leadership and fundraising. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position is open until filled. Please contact hiring@communityef.org with any questions.
Know someone who might love to do this job and work with CEF?
Send them a link to: communityef.org/codirector-search
CEF works with people experiencing homelessness or financial insecurity in Durham and Orange Counties to gain employment, secure housing, and build financial well-being. CEF trains volunteer “Advocates,” many of whom are undergraduate students, to work one-on-one with “Members” with a holistic approach that meets people where they are. We are passionate about sustaining transitions out of homelessness, and combine flexible relationship-based support with innovative matched savings accounts to help Members achieve long-term dreams. Since launching our savings program in 2010, Members have saved over $900,000 to secure stable housing, build emergency funds, purchase vehicles, and even buy their own homes. Our unique, evidence-based model has gained national attention.
CEF is committed to a team-based organizational structure, in which responsibilities and decision-making are shared among staff. We are a growing organization, with 13 staff, 244 volunteer Advocates, and over 1,000 Members. CEF’s FY2018 operating budget is approximately $500,000, with highly diversified financial resources, and a relationship-based fundraising model consistent with our organizational mission. Learn more at www.communityef.org
These guiding principles were collectively discerned by a group of members, advocates, staff and board members in the Spring of 2015. They are a statement of our values as an organization and serve as a compass to guide us in our work.
People-Centered Relationships: We appreciate and value our differences and are committed to working through relationships built on mutual respect and trust. In doing so, we foster a non-judgmental, welcoming and safe environment focused on relationships that empower individuals.
Active Reflection and Co-Learning: We cultivate an environment where advocates, members, and staff learn from each other. We create organizational space to critically reflect on our work.
Participatory Ownership: We — members, advocates, staff, and board — share ownership of CEF and achieve our organization’s goals through collaborative decision-making.
Financial Independence: We work together towards sustainable financial security for our community.
Community in Power: We contextualize our efforts within systems of power and through member and advocate experiences. We are committed to social justice and pursue local community-level change.
Welcoming Connectors: We are committed to cultivating an open network of people and organizations to holistically serve members’ goals.
Quality and Accountability: CEF strives to be an interconnected and transparent organization that gives and receives feedback for mutual accountability, to ensure quality in all that it does.
Yvette Mathews is the captain of the ship in our Chapel Hill office! Today, the Indy Week featured her amazing work in our office daily, as well as her leadership in organizing to address the growing affordable housing crisis in Orange County — including through song! We are so grateful for her phenomenal daily presence and the gifts that she brings to CEF.
The Community Empowerment Fund’s small basement office in Chapel Hill bustles with activity as Yvette Matthews scurries in and out, racing to pick up an incessantly ringing phone between guiding those looking for help and sharing a joke with students passing through. She deftly switches from task to task, directing the flow of people into and out of the office like an air traffic controller.
While it looks like she’s moving one hundred miles per hour, this is more or less a normal Thursday for Matthews.
“I’m a pretty good multitasking kind of chick,” says Matthews, a sixty-year-old office manager with short, slightly graying hair and a narrow face that usually frames a smile. “So I can hear you talking here, hear them talking there, and still do what I need to do.”
Read the article here: https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/a-decade-ago-yvette-matthews-was-unemployed-and-struggling-now-shes-a-key-advocate-for-affordable-housing-in-chapel-hill
