Lottye is a skilled tailor, an aspiring medical technician, and a joy to be around. We’re so happy for Lottye! She successfully found two jobs with her advocates and then saved to move into her apartment.

Lottye and one of her advocates, Kevin

Lottye  connected with CEF while staying at the women’s shelter and got paired with a stellar team of advocates: Kevin, Sarah and Max. The team worked together to find Lottye employment and housing, and to help her save towards her goals. Sarah and Max have since graduated, but Lottye says, “Oh, I keep up with them! Max, you know he is a jet-setter, so he is traveling the world, and Sarah, she is in Japan teaching English.

“But I’ve still got my Kevin! And I’m getting two new advocates who will be working with me and Kevin — a freshman and a sophomore — so you know I can hang out with them for years!”

Even since Lottye moved into her apartment, she has continued to work with her CEF advocates to reach her goals. She is aiming to gain more full-time employment, go back to school, keep budgeting, and just in general, make her house a home. Her favorite pastime right now? As Lottye says, “I am really enjoying my little place now. It’s so nice to have a place that is just mine.”

Thank you for all your energy, commitment, and dedication, Lottye! We are looking forward to working with you on your next big step.

Santiago and his advocates celebrating in the CEF office

Our congratulations and affirmations go out to Santiago! Santiago reached his savings goal this past month! Santiago has been by far CEF’s most consistent and diligent Saver, never missing a single weekly deposit in 50 weeks of saving with us. Truly incredible commitment.

Santiago is saving to buy a dairy cow for his family, and he has now reached his goal. Santiago and his advocates celebrated in the office with a cow-shaped cake, creatively made by one of his advocates.

The best part? Santiago will continue to save with CEF, as he is one of our 10 pilot members of the Renter’s Savings IDA Program.

Again, a heartfelt congratulations!

Gwen Miller, CEF Opportunity Class Teacher. Gwen is a school bus driver full-time in addition to her work at CEF.

Gwen is a motivator, a school bus driver, an educator, and a woman who inspires. After participating in CEF’s classes herself, Gwen now teaches our classes and makes it her personal goal to lift up the spirits and self-confidence of her class participants – the majority of whom are current residents at the women’s shelter. Gwen became homeless when she had to make the choice between paying her rent or paying her youngest son’s college tuition. She chose to invest in her son’s future, and without regret, was homeless for a year while working to get back on her feet.

Gwen brings a prophetic energy and oratory to CEF’s Sunday afternoon classes. Each week, in addition to teaching skills like budgeting, interviewing, and conflict resolution, Gwen introduces a theme to the women. Themes such as “I never give up on…”, “Gratitude,” and “I’ve got this.”

One participant remarked, “This is more of a sisterhood than a class.”

And it’s true! As Gwen puts it, “My goal for the Sunday Opportunity Classes is to lift the women’s spirits up. We have a lot of depression going on there at the shelter, and the women really need a group and a time that can be there to push them up and tell them not to give up. So I want the class to teach them life skills, and basically, survival skills. I enjoy doing this because I have been there and been through it.”

Gwen truly has come full circle. During class a couple months ago, after teaching a two-hour session about how to ace a job interview, Gwen mentioned to the women that just a year ago she was living at the shelter. The jaws of all the new participants dropped, and one exclaimed, “You have got to be kidding me!” It is a humbling experience to see the way the women’s eyes light up, the way they sit up a little bit taller, with the subtle reminder that, “Yes, I can do this. Gwen did this, and so can I.”

Continuing in her personal strides towards long-term success, Gwen is also a pilot participant in our Renter’s Savings IDA Program. We are so thankful for Gwen and her leadership, uplifting and inspiring many women who will follow in her footsteps.

Robert will be moving out of the men’s shelter this month. While living in the shelter, he has been saving with CEF towards a security deposit for his new apartment and deposits for utilities. He is disabled and on a fixed income, and has taken the knowledge he gained from our financial education classes to find an affordable apartment that will allow him to continue to save for his future goals.

After he moves, Robert will be continuing to come to our weekly classes to stay connected to the support, resources, and community of the group. Robert has been homeless once before in his life, and when he talks about this move he says excitedly that he “is going to do it right this time. Make plans, keep saving, stay connected.” He is committed to saving monthly towards an emergency fund to make sure that life’s future obstacles don’t bring him back to the shelter.

Robert will be one of 10 pilot members in CEF’s Renter’s Savings Program. The program provides Savers like Robert the opportunity and incentive to save towards an emergency fund, matching savings up to $2,000 with a 50% matching contribution… resulting in an emergency fund of $3,000. Robert is also excited about the opportunities available through this new program to improve his credit score. He dreams of owning his own business and his own home, and knows this is the stepping-stone to those goals.

Help CEF launch this new program. Sponsor a Saver to donate the 50% matching contribution, directly matching the savings deposits of members like Robert.