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Good Neighbor Award recipients keep their eye on the prize, but it’s not a desire for attention or riches that drives them. Their life-affirming volunteer efforts include bringing joy to people with disabilities and their families; providing services for the homeless and those struggling with addictions; helping children in foster care find a welcoming place to call home; and serving the elderly and our military veterans.
REALTOR® Magazine began telling their extraordinary stories in the year 2000, when it launched the Good Neighbor Awards program. The goal, then and now: to demonstrate the extraordinary compassion, grace, and power that REALTORS® bring to making life better for vulnerable people in their communities and beyond.
Since 2000, the National Association of REALTORS® has honored 200 REALTORS® among the thousands nominated for the Good Neighbor Award. While their individual stories are moving enough, considered together, their volunteer efforts tell a powerful tale. On average, Good Neighbor Award recipients have been volunteering for more than 24 years. Cumulatively, the winners have dedicated more than 1.4 million hours to making the world a better place.
Over the program’s 20 years, Good Neighbors have:
- Helped people in 40 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and 15 foreign countries.
- Served more than 41 million meals to the hungry.
- Provided shelter to more than 276,000 people in need (not related to their real estate business).
- Raised hundreds of millions of dollars for nonprofit causes, including more than $104 million for medical research and health care.
NAR is proud to have supported these REALTOR®-led nonprofit organizations with national publicity and more than $1.3 million in grants funded by our sponsors.
The 2019 winners were selected from hundreds of applicants based on such criteria as leadership, depth of service, and impact.
2019 Good Neighbor Award Winners
- Bruce Johnson logs miles on his motorcycle to help sick kids.
- Mark Solomon makes sure no veteran sleeps on the streets.
- Kim Strub supports people with brain injuries and their families.
- Dale Taylor helps the homeless get back on their feet
- Paul Wyman leads his hometown to fight back against opioids.
Honorable Mentions
2019 Web Choice
While the Good Neighbor Awards judges selected our 2019 winners, all 10 finalists competed for “Web Choice Favorite” honors through public voting online. Congratulations to top vote-getters Paul Wyman, Mark Solomon, and Bruce Johnson, who receive bonus grants thanks to sponsor realtor.com®.