Archive | Events

Financial Independence Day 2018

By on 6/24/18 in Chapel Hill, Durham, Events, General, Highlight
RSVP Here

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!

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Maggie-We-Love-You Party

By 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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CEF Art Show 2018 – Bagpipes Quilting and More

By on 4/24/18 in Chapel Hill, Events, General, Highlight

Last weekend the Community Empowerment Fund hosted an art showcase that highlighted a variety of artistic talents from the CEF family! From unique sculptures to detailed watercolor paintings; songs from the CEF Advocacy choir to mesmerizing spoken word, there was something for everyone.

We started with a tour of MFA works at the Ackland Art Museum, led by Art&Life, with discussions “intended to explore the status quo and question why things are the way they are” before heading to the Campus Y for a truly special exhibition. Artists were able to showcase the creative extensions of themselves and to enrich the lives of those of us able to witness it.

It was a wonderful community-building event, and an extremely important chance to share a space and celebrate achievements. We can’t recreate the moments we shared on Saturday but we hope that these pictures shared on this post give you at least a little glimpse of the talent of our artists.

Thank you to everyone that came and to all the artists that shared their amazing work and talents.

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CEF Advocacy Choir Performs at UNC Memorial Hall

By on 4/17/18 in CEF Advocacy, CEF Advocacy Choir, Chapel Hill, Events, Highlight, Videos

The CEF Advocacy Choir had the amazing experience of performing at Memorial Hall to close out the first half of a show by the UNC Loreleis this past weekend! Yvette Mathews is a part of CEF’s Staff team in Orange County, and the director of the Advocacy Choir. She has re-written the lyrics to many popular tunes to sing about issues faced by CEF Members – especially about affordable housing.

If you missed this performance, come check out he CEF Advocacy Choir at the CEF Art Show on April 21st or the Chapel Hill Spring Graduation Party on April 28th!

Sing with Us!

Call Yvette at 919-200-0233 or reach out via email at yvettem@communityef.org to get involved and be notified about upcoming rehearsals and performances!

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A Member’s Gift

By on 4/16/18 in Events, General, Giving, Highlight, In the News, Member Story, Story

CEF Member, Steven Howser, is featured in the Daily Tar Heel for the gift he made to CEF during the 2017 CEF Piggy Bank Bash!

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At a fundraiser for CEF last fall, Howser gave back to the organization in the form of a $500 dollar donation, the largest of the evening. He coordinated with several workers at CEF to print a big check to present to West as a surprise during the event to say thank you.

“All gifts to CEF matter, but gifts from members truly glow, they cause ripple effects throughout the organization, and seem to snowball and grow,” West said.

When Steven Howser first came to the Community Empowerment Fund (CEF) around four years ago, he was seeking work development assistance to help him qualify for a seven day bus pass at the shelter. After years of support and involvement with CEF, Howser has not only secured income and housing, but is also giving back.

“I wanted to give back to show people what a good organization they are, and the resources they have to help people in the community,” Howser said. “So the people in the community won’t be afraid to donate time and donations to them because they really help a lot of people.”

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CEF Chapel Hill Spring Party

By on 4/13/18 in Events, Highlight

You’re Invited:
What: 9th Annual Spring Celebration and CEF Graduation!
Who: All members of the CEF (extended) family — members, advocates, family, friends, supporters, fans, partners, and neighbors

RSVP for Chapel Hill Party!

Saturday, April 28th from 12pm-3pm (CEF ceremony at 1pm)
St. Josephs CME 510 W. Rosemary St.

Rides to Chapel Hill Party Available: call (919) 200-0233

The graduation ceremony will take place during the Northside Festival, a block party featuring free food, field games, live music, dancing, performances by the CEF Advocacy Choir, and much more. Hosted by the Jackson Center and St. Joseph’s CME, the Northside Festival is a fun, celebratory annual event and CEF is thrilled to participate!

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You’re Invited: CEF Durham Spring Party!

By on 4/3/18 in Events, General, Highlight

Who: All members of the CEF (extended) family — members, advocates, family, friends, supporters, fans, partners, and neighbors!

RSVP for Durham Party!

Thursday, April 12th from 5pm – 7:30pm
CEF Durham Office — 1206b w. Chapel Hil Street, Durham, NC 27701

We would love to see your beautiful faces and goofy smiles there. We’ll have music, a photo-booth, dancing and lots of food! Your support means a lot to all of our members – hope to see you soon!

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7th Annual Holiday — Chapel Hill

By on 11/8/17 in Chapel Hill, Events, General, Highlight

You’re Invited!

When:  Saturday, December 9th from 5pm – 8pm

Where: Chapel of the Cross, 304 E. Franklin St, Chapel Hill
Who: All members of the CEF (extended) family — members, advocates, family, friends, supporters, fans, partners, and neighbors
What: Celebrate CEF graduates, enjoy delicious food, and sing-along and dance-along with the CEF community!
Rides Available: Chapel Hill, call (919) 200-0233
RSVP for Chapel Hill Party!
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Piggy Bank Bash 2017

By on 11/6/17 in Durham, Events, Highlight, LOC

If you walked by Chapel Hill St. in Durham last Monday night you might have heard the CEF Advocacy Choir singing out before a crowd of over 100 attendees! You might have seen CEF Member Steven handing CEF Co-director, Maggie an oversized check, a donation to CEF for $500! You could have stepped into and heard Advocates and Members sharing their stories and how they’ve become apart of a transformative community at CEF. The 2nd Annual Piggy Bank Bash hosted by GRUB Durham,  and was a night to be remembered and held in our minds-eye as we seek out love and joy in community.

Thank you so much to everyone that came out to eat and sing and celebrate CEF Members and the amazing community we are a part of! We are so thankful for the amazing support from Grub Durham to all the Members and Advocates and Board Members that came out to volunteer their time, to Erick for his amazing work on the mural, and to Local Yogurt, The Cookery, and Pauli Murray Project for donating raffle prizes!

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CEF: Community Empowerment Fund
Chapel Hill: 919-200-0233 Durham: 919-797-9233

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