CEF co-founder and Co-director Maggie West was honored last Thursday night with the Citizen of the Year award by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce! We are so proud and thankful to be inspired by her example each and every day!

From chapelboro.com/

Citizen of the Year: Maggie West, Community Empowerment Fund 

Maggie West helped start Community Empowerment Fund (CEF) in 2009 for a more engaged and sustainable way to help the homeless, which is now a life-changing organization that includes a co-working space to generate additional income. She is always positive and always willing to take a risk to try new things. Ms. West routinely utilizes connections with energetic UNC students, and received the 2015 APPLES’ Community Partner Excellence Award for her service as board chair with Farmer Foodshare, an organization that provides fresh, local food to food insecure individuals while building healthy community food systems and create jobs. She empowers UNC students to become the new social justice leaders, both during their time as CEF advocates and once they have graduated from the university. Ms. West is creative in her advocacy, and is known for her volunteerism in a multitude of organizations, including Highlander Research and Education Center, Project Connect, and Point-In-Time Count. For her daily pursuit of social equity and her uplifting leadership, we are proud to honor Maggie West with the 2016 Citizen of the Year Award.