Our Story
Here at CE3
Community Enrichment, Encouragement, Empowerment.
CE3 was born in 2019 in response to the sometimes overwhelming challenges that can face individuals in low income communities. Accessing the lessons learned and resources gained through lived experience, we aimed to creat an organization that would provide a safe space of transition for those faced with the challenges of generational welfare and poverty to grow into their goals as well as for those who have a heart to serve this population a safe space to be connection and relationship.
What started as a moment of surreal disbelief under the Eiffel tower has now grown into a organization working to provide pathways out of poverty from the center of the community.
We have been and remain committed to investing our expertise and resources in order to further achieve our cause. Since 2019, we’ve been supporting our community members in a variety of ways and measuring our success not by monetary size, but by more qualitative measurements such as the scale and effectiveness of our efforts. Just imagine what we can achieve together!
Rameka Smith
President and Founder
Rameka is the founder and CEO of CE3: Community Enrichment Encouragement and Empowerment.
Adding to her lived experience as a product of generational poverty and welfare, she attended the University of Cincinnati obtaining a BA in Liberal Arts with minors in History, Sociology and Psychology. Her goal in life has been and continues to be helping people to grow from where they are to where they want to be and she believes that in order to do that we need to understand what our history has to teach us about how we got to where we are today, how and why we behave the way we do as individuals as well as how and why that behavior changes once we become part of a group.
She also serves on the Board of Think Tank, Inc. and is a member of the Change Leader Alliance, where we work to “provide access to platforms for emerging leaders with lived experience in poverty, addiction or incarceration to use their stories to inspire, educate and advocate for change.” and as the President of the PTO at College Hill Fundamental Academy.
She currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and 2 children. In her spare time she is often found volunteering in the community and she LOVES to read. Her current favorite quote is “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Very well said by Henry Ford.
Services
Back to School Bash
Annual back to school event geared towards an equitable start to the school year
Financial Literacy Program
An annual financial literacy program pieced together from multiple spaces to create a program specific to low-income families.
Home Buyers Seminar
An annual seminar focused on learning the hidden rules of home purchasing and home ownership, and dispelling myths surrounding home ownership.
