CEF: Community Empowerment Fund
Harini Somanchi is a Research Assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine in the IDEEL Lab. Harini also serves as Co-Director of Student Wellness and Safety and Director of Institutional Research and Assessment at the UNC Student Government Executive Branch. Additionally, Harini is a Research Assistant at the UNC Sheps Center for Health Services Research and a member of the PHASER National Team at Durham VA Health Care System. Harini is also an Advocate at CEF: Community Empowerment Fund. Harini has a B.S.P.H. in Health Policy and Management from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and completed a Bioinformatics Research Internship at George Mason University.
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CEF: Community Empowerment Fund
Founded in 2009, CEF provides person-centered support, financial education, and asset building tools to individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Our approach combines person-centered support with financial services that pursue equity in order to reduce the racial wealth gap. CEF Members receive sustained one-on-one support from volunteer Advocates, trained in racial equity and trauma-informed care, to help achieve their chosen goals. Working with Advocates, Members secure housing, gain employment, and build savings in order to increase assets and sustain transitions out of poverty. CEF creates a community of support that empowers Members, offers experiential learning opportunities for Advocates to grow and learn, and advocacy and collaboration to address the systemic causes of homelessness and poverty. CEF’s work is grounded in recognition of the detrimental impacts of systemic racism on Black and Brown members of our communities. We leverage the combined resources of passion for sustaining transitions out of homelessness, dedicated volunteers, partners with shared values, and cross-spectrum collaborations to offer holistic support to each Member.