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Julius’ Poems

By on 12/11/16 in Highlight, Member Story, Story

Julius Reads

Read more about Julius and the story of him and his brother Michael moving out of the shelter and working with CEF here!

Movin On Up: A Tale of Two Brothers

By: Julius (Foot) Alston

We stayed at the shelter, bout a year and a half
Mike and I both, knew that couldn’t last

We went to CEF, for some help,
Couldn’t a did it by ourself

They found us a house, that we could move in
Thanks to CEF and some of their friends

So what’s it like now, you might ask
We’re building a life here, up to us to make it last
We can watch TV, whenever we please
Cook whatever food, we feel like we need
We can shower now, whenever we want
It ain’t nobody to say; “no you don’t”
I tell you it’s nice, and all of that
But we do have them bills, that got to be met

We thank CEF, for our Safe Savings Account
And thank God every day, for making it turn out THIS WAY

To the Angels

By: Julius (Foot) Alston

Leah and Steve. Helped me to find the house we need.
Now all I need is a couple of friends,
To help me get some furniture to move in.

Chris told me, to ask Stephani,
Stephanie had a friend named James
Who helped with a lot of things

Miss Lisa say that she would pitch in
I call them angels, but she call them friends

Stuff started coming from everywhere,
I didn’t know so many people care.

I feel like a little boy, on Christmas with a brand new toy

If this is a story, you all played your part,
Because you are all angels in my heart.

That had to be Santa Claus who came down
From Greensboro and haul it all around
I ask him could I pay, he just shook my hand and say,
Let’s do this again another day.
But not so soon

All you people that I didn’t mention your name,
My love goes out to you just the same.

Mr. Mike

By: Julius (Foot) Alston

Mr. Mike is a person
That some of you may know
But he’s not the same person
He was a long time ago

He’s looking towards the future now
And not his past
He now holds a pen
Instead of a glass

This I know and I’m the one to tell
Because he is the one that’s teaching me
To read, to write and to spell

He doesn’t brag about it
And he doesn’t boast
But the old Mike is history now
Little more than a ghost

When Mike get tired now
He can go to his home
Not like when he was at the shelter
Now he’s got a place of his own

So listen to Mr. Mike now
And you can do it too
He’ll have you doing things
You never dreamed you could do

I got to go now
Back to Mr. Mike’s class
Because I want to do more with my future
Than I did with my past

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Mike and Julius Alston

By on 12/11/16 in General, Highlight, Member Story, Story

Meet the dream team! Julius and Mike Alston are brothers who for the first time in their lives have their very own home.

The Alston brothers are a beloved duo, Julius as the honorary Poet Laureate of CEF and Mike as a reliable friend and jokester. Both connected with CEF Advocates while living in the shelter. “Now we all got started from IFC. They fed us, they clothed us, they sheltered us. It all got started from there. But if you go there, you’re going to CEF, they’re going to tell you that,” says Julius.

Both Mike and Julius got involved in CEF within two weeks of the time they each moved into the shelter, jumping feet first into all of our programs. Since joining CEF, Mike has attended 80 sessions of our Opportunity Classes and Julius has attended 64, earning the coveted accolade as “Alumni Ambassadors” for their over-the-top attendance and achievements through the class (only 8 classes are required for graduation!). Meanwhile, Mike and Julius have both met with Advocates over 200 times each! And wow, has their engagement ever paid off…

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Before joining CEF Mike was unemployed for about 5 years after a layoff shortly into the Great Recession. He and his two Advocates, Matt and Hannah, submitted dozens of resumes and applications. Mike is dependable, easy-going, and kind, and was overwhelmingly perseverant throughout his job search. When Hannah spotted a new restaurant opening in Carrboro with a “Now Hiring” sign, she alerted Mike and he and Matt filled out the application immediately. Mike says, “I was the first one there when they first opened.” He got a full-time position in the new, growing restaurant! Still doing well there almost a year later, Mike shares, “CEF did a lot for me, because if it hadn’t been for CEF I wouldn’t have that job up there.”

mikejuliusalston-jby16-9Meanwhile, Julius is the older brother of the two, and retired a couple of years ago. He worked with his Advocates, Steven and Leah, to search for affordable housing. When the Housing Choice Voucher waiting list opened up for just 3 days in Orange County, Julius submitted an application, and several months later he was actually selected for a voucher! His Advocates helped him to pull together all of the necessary paperwork to receive the voucher alongside Rapid Rehousing assistance for his security deposit. Since Julius and Mike wanted to live together as well, the team worked to add Mike officially to Julius’ voucher.

Then the search really began for a landlord willing to accept their housing voucher. Advocates assisted Julius and Mike in applying for rentals that would keep Mike within bus or walking distance from his job. Over and over, this amazing duo was turned down simply because so many landlords in our community do not accept housing vouchers. Ultimately however, this whole team coordinated with several partners to find a stable home for the brothers. The Jackson Center and Self-Help Credit Union had recently acquired a duplex through all of their efforts with the Northside Neighborhood Initiative, perfectly located for Mike’s job, and were thrilled to rent to the Alston brothers.

In their new home together, Julius cooks every day since Mike works most days. Last we heard, what was on the menu? “Beef roast and creamed potatoes and pinto beans last night, tonight I’ll probably cook chicken and a pinto bean salad. Every morning we have bacon and eggs, or sausage and eggs.” Julius and Mike are definitely making their house a home. Julius even wrote a poem about their move out of the shelter into their home. Read it here!

Both brothers continue to set and reach goals. Julius saved throughout his time at the shelter to prepare to move into housing and continues to reach his monthly savings goal with CEF even now that he has bills to manage. Julius has achieved 5 ambitious savings goals with his CEF Account! And since getting his job, Mike has made a deposit into his CEF Safe Savings Account literally every week — sometimes twice a week! Their advocates are working with them on their next big goals, including better health, getting a scooter, building credit, getting a GED for Mike and getting a part-time job for Julius. Given their success so far, we’re sure they’ll reach these next goals just the same!

Read Julius' Poems
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CEF Receives GSK Impact Award!

By on 11/21/16 in CEF Advocacy, CEF Advocacy Choir, Highlight, Videos
The Triangle Community Foundation and GSK honored CEF and 9 other amazing Triangle nonprofits at the GSK Impact Awards last week! The CEF Advocacy Choir performed “Smile” to open the ceremonies and CEF Staff Member, Yvette Matthews, received the award on behalf of all of CEF.
The award comes with $40,000 to deepen CEF’s work in Orange and Durham Counties, working together with communities to transform financial and housing opportunities!  CEF was recognized for our innovative work in “making homes and neighborhoods safer, connecting families to support services, and preparing people of all ages for successful careers – all important factors to improve health outcomes in underserved neighborhoods.”
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Saving Creates Change

By on 7/12/16 in Highlight, Program Story, Story

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2015 was a huge year for CEF’s matched savings program, assisting Members to save towards their personal goals of moving out of the shelter, building an emergency fund, purchasing personal transportation, and much, much more.

This year, after almost two years of research, design, Member feedback, coordination with experts in the field, and finally, some serious database programming, we published the new and improved CEF Safe Savings Account design. Safe Savings Accounts are goal-oriented accounts. Members have limited access to withdrawals of their savings until they reach their goals with CEF, and once they achieve their goal CEF matches their accomplishments at 10 percent!

We launched the program in 2010, and since then Members have saved over $500,000 towards their personal savings goals (amazing!). While many Members have made incredible progress towards

their goals, we set out to improve the overall number and portion of Members who achieve 100% of their goals. Moreover, we set out with a new objective to intentionally build opportunities for Members to create positive, long-term savings habits.

To bring these goals into reality, we partnered with locally based and nationally acclaimed expert on the topic — the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University. The Center for Advanced Hindsight grounded their recommendations to CEF in behavioral economics research.behavioral-economics

In partnership with the Center for Advanced Hindsight, we made significant improvements to the design of our program to better assist CEF Members in setting and achieving savings goals. By combining their technical assistance with in-depth feedback from current CEF Members, we made exciting changes to CEF Safe Savings Accounts, including:

  1. A personal budget-building system that helps Members create detailed, actionable savings plans
  2. Automated text message and email reminders for scheduled deposits
  3. An emphasis on setting iterative savings goals, each attainable within six months
  4. New incentives to encourage more frequent and consistent deposits

And all of these improvements were made in a beautifully redesigned online portal that is easy-to-use and streamlined — making the process of setting and attaining savings goals as painless as possible!

savings_graphBased on the Center for Advanced Hindsight’s nationally recognized research, these changes will assist CEF Members in achieving the savings goals they set out to reach. For a preview of great things to come, check out the chart below to see the continuing increase in the number of active savings accounts managed by CEF and the total amount CEF Members saved in their accounts annually, which has doubled in just two years!

As we are always learning and charting new territory with our unique financial services, we are excited to continue our partnership with the Center for Advanced Hindsight in 2016 as they conduct a formal research trial. Stay tuned!

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CEF Member : Malcolm

By on 6/12/16 in Highlight, Member Story, Story

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Malcolm is the kind of person who when he decides to do something, he doesn’t do it halfway, but takes a courageous plunge and surpasses even his own hopes or expectations. To pursue his dreams as a musician, he left his position after eight years as a sanitation worker in Rocky Mount, cashing out his retirement to buy a van and a load of instruments and start traveling. Months later, he found himself touring all across the globe with different groups as an incredibly accomplished drummer — traveling to England, Australia, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, and Israel, to name a few. (Check out Malcolm’s awesome music! Listen to Majestic Lions on iTunes).

In 2013 Malcolm felt that he was in danger of relapsing after 12 years of sobriety, so he preemptively entered a six-month recovery program at Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD), where he joined CEF.

“Once in the program, I had lost my job and was homeless now. CEF came at the right time, just when I was worrying about how am I going to get a job online, who am I going to go to?” Malcolm connected with CEF during our office hours at UMD.

“And you know, I didn’t know how to use a computer at all, and within six months after being with CEF, I actually got a job in environmental services at Merck, and at Merck you can’t use pencil, pen and paper — everything is through computers. ”

That was two years ago, and Malcolm has now moved from temporary employment to a permanent position in a different eld. “I love that job… Without CEF I would have never been able to fill out the application, would not have made it. I keep pinching myself, say man, I’m doing alright, I’m loving it, life is good, trying to do the right things for the right reasons, and good things are really happening.”

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“And over the years, I never stopped dealing with CEF after that. I knew I had found a good outlet, I knew I had found a good thing — somebody, someplace, people that care about you, they care to help you in so many ways.

“It’s hard for me to even explain — where can you and people who actually take the time out to help you put your life together? You know, this is my health program, this is my finance program, this is just amazing man.”

And Malcolm isn’t done with CEF yet! Malcolm has been a star saver in CEF’s saving program. “I saved for the laptop, I saved to get stuff to move [into my apartment], and now I’m saving for vacation.” Whether to take a trip home to the Virgin Islands or to go to a family reunion in Indianapolis, “either way, I’m going to make that goal, I’m going to reach it.” We are sure of it, because as we know from experience, when Malcolm sets his mind to it, he totally succeeds!

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Member Story: Pee-Wee

By on 5/12/16 in Highlight, Member Story, Story

Re: Lease Renewal — “Dear Nathaniel, It’s been a pleasure having you as a tenant and we would like to thank you for choosing to renew your lease.”

Wow. It is hard to describe how much this one little sentence means. For Nathaniel, or “Pee-Wee” as he has been known by friends and family since birth, this letter from his landlord represents the rst time throughout over a decade of homelessness that he has called a place home for a whole year — much less two!

Pee-Wee is 72 years old, has lived in Chapel Hill his whole life, and was a skilled brick mason for decades — building dozens of the buildings we see to this day. After su ering a stroke in 1995, he lost his ability to walk and speak temporarily, and his acute motor control — leaving him unable to practice his trade. Through rehabilitation he regained the strength to walk and the ability to speak, but the loss of acute control was permanent and he retired due to this disability. After losing steady income, he could not a ord a home in Orange County and was homeless on and o for over a decade — sleeping in the woods for much of this period, and staying at the shelter for the nal two years.

He worked diligently with CEF while in the shelter to save his retirement income, and was able to build up a nest egg of $3,000 towards his move. Because of this preparation, when he and his Advocate nally

— after months of searching — found an a ordable studio apartment posted online, he was able to jump on the opportunity. He paid the security deposit and signed the lease the exact same day, bought furni- ture, and was all moved in by the end of the week!

Since his move-in, Pee-Wee has continued to budget and save with CEF, using his CEF savings

account to make sure he always sets aside enough of his xed income for rent and utilities. “I’ll put it like this: My feet was in the dirt. Now my feet is not in the dirt. I’m on my way up, and the good Lord willing I’m going to keep going up. My sister I hadn’t seen in about 3 or 4 years, she said, ‘I’m so proud of you! You doing good, you doing good.’”

His two sisters, from whom he was previously estranged, surprised him on his birthday this year and rented a great big room at Golden Corral, with 25 members of his family and friends. “And next thing I knew, all these people I knew… I was eating steak and a piece of chicken. I had to put it down, because I was so much in joy, I hadn’t been with them in years. I didn’t want to cry in front of all of them, but I got tears in my eyes.”

“You know what they used to call me? The mayor of Franklin Street.” To this day, judges, business owners, and all kinds of folks greet Pee-Wee every day, whether he’s having co ee at Sutton’s or sweeping up outside one of the businesses. They are greeted in turn with his ready full-toothed smile and snarky sense of humor. Looking around his apartment, you can see this community of support represented in every beloved object, as he calls by name each person who was so excited to see him in housing. The co ee-pot given by a lawyer, the throw rug given collectively by the police department, the microwave given by a UNC employee… this is a true home.

We are proud of Pee-Wee, too, and proud to have this honorary Mayor’s stamp of approval:

“If you want help, go to CEF. If you need anything go to CEF.”

“I’ll put it like this: My feet was in the dirt. Now my feet is not in the dirt. I’m on my way up, and the good Lord willing I’m going to keep going up. My sister I hadn’t seen in about three or four years, she said, ‘I’m so proud of you! You doing good, you doing good!’”

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Member Story: Sue and Howell

By on 12/30/15 in General, Highlight, Member Story, Story, Videos

Spend as little as five minutes with Sue and her son Howell Brown III and be prepared to fall immediately and deeply in love. Little Howell, with a thick Appalachian accent and black cowboy hat covering his head, talks in that lively way that only a 12-year old boy can about the RC cars that he races at Northgate Mall and his service dog Bo. He is the epitome of exuberance. He is one of those rare people you feel blessed to meet, who breathes in the same air as the rest of us, but then manages to breathe out pure joy.

Sue and Little Howell came to Durham when Howell was diagnosed with a brain tumor. They left everything behind at their home in Asheville, and were sleeping in hospital waiting rooms at first. Howell shares, “When I got diagnosed, we had to leave right away – no messing around.” After relocating to Durham, Howell and Sue were very fortunately connected with the Ronald McDonald House to live while Howell received his first year of chemotherapy and treatment.

During this time of upheaval and crisis, Sue ran into financial troubles. Howell’s oncologist encouraged Sue to “put everything on hold” while taking care of Howell through his treatment, meaning that Sue has been unable to work consistently. To help with bills, she took out a payday loan, not knowing the neverending debt trap the loan would lead to. Since then, Sue has received numerous threatening collections calls – and paid back her loans with exorbitant interest – all the while navigating the complicated health system and making sure Howell was receiving all the care that he needed.

Sue has been an amazing advocate for her son throughout his treatment – seeking out resources within the hospital and within the community that could support her son’s well-being as well as their future as a family. She learned about CEF when attending a resource panel offered by another local organization, and jumped at the opportunity to work with CEF to get her finances back in order.

Sue and Howell truly joined CEF as a family. Sue and Howell worked with their advocates to strive through their financial crisis as Sue focused on her son’s healing and treatment. Of CEF, Sue shares, “They’re helping me find hope by getting my financial security back… Before, we were struggling so much, and now I feel like I am breathing again.”

With CEF, Sue has opened a new account at Self-Help Credit Union, allowing her a fresh start with banking, and she is also working towards a personal savings goal through CEF’s Safe Savings Account. She has also connected to many local resources, filed back taxes, and better understood her credit situation. Her Advocates also help to investigate when she suspects she is receiving phone calls and emails that are financial scams. With her tireless CEF Advocates, “I can reach my goals,” says Sue.

And Sue has made this progress and tackled these issues concurrently and alongside traveling back and forth to Florida for special treatments for Little Howell, countless appointments at Duke Hospital, and dealing with news that is sometimes good and sometimes not what they hoped to hear. What’s more, going above and beyond super-mom status, she has found ways to give Little Howell the opportunity to be the exuberant, joyous, full-of-life child that he is, approaching a glimmer of normalcy, by doing everything from racing RC cars to attending Duke football games through the Ronald McDonald House.

Sue and Little Howell have been a joy to work with in CEF, and we are delighted to share a little bit about their journey here. As they reflect on their time with CEF, Little Howell shares, “I just hope we can do something for them some day, they’ve really helped us out a lot.” We hope he knows that they already have.

 

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Meet Anthony: “CEF All-Star”

By on 11/24/15 in General, Highlight, Member Story, Story

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(Anthony sporting his CEF “People Helping People” hat in front of his new home!)

Anthony raised four boys as a single father – two his sons and two of his sons’ friends who he raised as his own. He was an All-American football star at Chapel Hill High and went on to coach football for 19 years. In his own upbringing and as a parent, Anthony emphasized “Hard work, showing them you can do anything, and family – I was always at their events, reading, football games, I was always there.” With all 4 of his sons now grown and successful in business and public service, you can tell when talking to Anthony that family is at the center of his life.

Anthony became homeless after a large lay-off at the assisted living facility where he was housekeeping manager. “I had an apartment, a car, and slowly I started losing those things.” After spending some time staying with family, Anthony moved into the IFC shelter.

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(Anthony’s 2014 Holiday Party Graduation)

He shares, “I found out there was a lot of social help here in Chapel Hill. Of course CEF was one of the first groups that I was led to… I mean, I had become kind of down in life, things not going well for me, and thought nobody really cared about what happened to Anthony Sharp. But when I walked into CEF it just changed. The enthusiasm the college kids had, you know they’re wiling to help, and just the care that they had – that made me feel different about myself.”

Anthony began working with Karla, a CEF advocate and current senior at UNC. Karla shares, “In our first meeting, he had so many plans for himself, ranging from academics, finances, employment, business, and service. And of those things, I feel like he always emphasized the service he would perform.” Karla and Anthony built a resume, completed countless applications, and connected with legal services to address issues on Anthony’s background.

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(Anthony goofing around with fellow CEF graduate Robert at the 2014 Holiday Party)

Anthony highlights that in his struggle to “defeat homelessness… you know it wasn’t just me or one group, it was the whole community that came together.” He engaged in Orange County Literacy programs, many groups that meet at the shelter, and all of CEF’s programs, including Opportunity Classes. As he accumulated certificates along the way, he began including those with all of his job applications – and it all paid off!

Anthony secured a full-time position at UNC with health insurance and retirement benefits, and quickly saved with CEF to move into an apartment of his own. But even more, “For me, I found out I was smarter than I thought I was… I found out how to live again. As a term I have heard a lot from others, I’ve turned out to be who I was really supposed to be.”

Anthony gives back way more than he received. “It has just been a great life change for me, and I want to give thanks to a lot of people, and my community most of all for showing me a different way to live. It’s just great to be able to give back to this cause in Chapel Hill of ending homelessness.”

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(Anthony with State Senator Valerie Foushee at the ribbon cutting for the IFC at SECU Community House where he is a new board member — Anthony delivered remarks about his journey out of homelessness)

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Living Generously: Demonte’s Member Story

By on 11/17/15 in General, Highlight, Member Story

 

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Demonte teaches us all to live generously. While living in a tent in the woods of Chapel Hill, he showed up bright and early every Saturday morning to the CEF Opportunity Class, making coffee for everyone and helping with classroom set-up. With a gift for photography he quickly became the resident photographer at CEF, capturing fun daily moments in the office, where he spends time every day of the week. He routinely snaps photos and then runs right across the street to print the pictures and give copies to everyone.

Demonte came to Chapel Hill after his home in Maryland burned down. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go… When I came here all I really had was the clothes that I was wearing.”

Running through a list of all the ways he has worked with CEF, Demonte shares, “When I came down here, everything I needed help for, if they couldn’t help me, they referred me to somebody that could. They just basically helped me put my whole life back together.”

His list of goals he accomplished with CEF includes: Getting his social security card and birth certificate after losing all his documents in the fire; connecting to doctors and mental health; getting help with managing his benefits; and finding housing.

On top of all that, Demonte points to the lessons he has learned from CEF’s Opportunity Classes. “I learned how to budget. I had never made a budget before coming to CEF; now I plan… I had never done that before. Demonte graduated months ago at this point, but he still continues to go to class every week to keep learning and also share with others there what he has learned, “Just to give back, plus I like helping people.

“CEF, it’s just been a lifesaver for so many people. It helped me out a tremendous amount. I just love the people here. I have a lot of friendships here… It is great to have people who you can call your friends, sit down and talk to when something is on your mind. I advise anybody that needs help with finding a house or a job or writing a resume to come check it out.”

Demonte was in a car accident in 1995 and suffered brain damage. As a result, Demonte is permanently disabled and not able to work formally, but he certainly still works hard. He got ordained as a minister and has served churches as their music director, volunteering locally with Love Chapel Hill church. Music is a long-time passion for Demonte from his time in the church as a kid, where he and several other youth started the “Seven Jewels Youth Choir.”

Out of the woods and now in an apartment, Demonte says he is “more restful now, because when I was out in the tent I would always wake up and it was hard to sleep.” Being in an apartment has also allowed him to get a long-awaited knee surgery that was not medically possible when his circumstances were different, as his doctors could not in good practice discharge him from the hospital to rehabilitate in a tent.

So what’s next for Demonte? “Basically all the goals that I had set for myself, I reached them all. The only goal I haven’t reached is the goal for my Safe Savings Account and my goal to get a laptop, but I’m working on that right now. Everything else I set as a goal is pretty much done, mostly from the help of CEF.”

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Education + Housing

By on 10/5/15 in General, Highlight, Member Story, Research + Publications, Story, Videos

Made for the Orange County Commissioners as they weigh the value of housing in Orange County, NC.
“The risk of having all the funding support education but not support housing means that you are going to be cutting certain children off from access to that education, and those are the children that are already facing greater challenges. Those are the children that need it most; those are the children that are already at risk for not developing the education they need to live a full and healthy life when they grow up.”
Jennifer De La Rosa
 
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CEF: Community Empowerment Fund
Chapel Hill: 919-200-0233 Durham: 919-797-9233

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