Good Neighbor Awards Recognize Real Estate Agents Making a Difference in Their Communities

For the 26th year, the National Association of Realtors® is celebrating NAR members for the impact they’re making behind the scenes—using their own time and treasure to make a difference.

Five honorees have been recognized with the Good Neighbor Award—exemplifying compassion and leadership in their communities.

These real estate agents are silent heroes helping their neighbors, going above and beyond their calling, not just deal-making but providing a helping hand.

“This year’s Good Neighbor Awards winners exemplify the very best of the real estate profession,” says Kevin Sears, NAR president. “Through their compassion, leadership, and hands-on service, they’re transforming lives and showing that our impact extends far beyond helping people buy and sell homes. We’re incredibly proud to honor these members for their lasting contributions to their communities.”

Realtor.com® is proud to be a sponsor of NAR’s Good Neighbor Awards program. The winners were chosen by the public and each of the five recipients are receiving a $10,000 grant for their charity.

Time and talent

Cindy Bradley has been a real estate agent for the last 30 years, but her passion project is Sacred Ground Hospice House in Knoxville, TN. She founded the center in 2021 and invested $3.5 million of her own funds to do so.

In 2017, the only residential hospice in East Tennessee closed; it was a facility where her mother had spent the last six weeks of her life.

Then, after the death of Bradley’s husband Rudy, she realized her calling was to help others find a safe and peaceful place for end-of-life patients and was inspired to open Scared Ground.

“For 42 years I was smart enough to invest in our amazing product—real estate—which we’re all fortunate enough to get to sell, so I had a rental portfolio,” Bradley says. “I sold the rental houses, cashed out our retirement accounts, and built the hospice, which opened in 2021.”

Kim Clifton has been pouring her time and talent into her charity, Tierra Antigua Hope Foundation in Tucson, AZ, which she founded in 2014. She’s helped raise more than $565,000 and assisted over 15,000 people.

Clifton, herself, has responded to 81 requests, helping 143 children and offsetting the cost of $60,000 worth of items.

She and her husband, Matt, started their real estate brokerage, Tierra Antiqua Realty, in 2001. Now, they have more than 1,100 agents at eight offices in southern and southeastern Arizona. Her agents have the option to donate a portion of each property sale to the foundation.

“We’re not pressuring anyone to do anything,” Clifton explains. “We provided an opportunity for our agents to give. And it just has snowballed.”

Ken Larson didn’t start out in real estate—he was a dentist for 30 years. He launched his charity, Northern Lights Foundation, in 2006 helping Duluth, MN, families with children who are battling life-threatening illnesses. So far, his nonprofit has raised over $1.5 million and helped more than 300 families with financial assistance and emotional care.

But the story behind his charity is deeply personal. In 1993, Larson’s second child, Nicole Marie, was born with underdeveloped lungs. She died in the NICU the same day. “That moment broke me in a way I never thought I could be broken,” Larson says.

He started his charity to honor his daughter and to provide parents who are caring for their sick children with a financial cushion—no strings attached—through multiple grants over the course of recovery.

“They pay their mortgage with it, or they pay their car payment or grocery bills,” Larson says. “Whatever.”

Ray Manzoni has been in real estate for 57 years. Since 1998, he has led the ALS Ride for Life in Mount Sinai, NY—helping to raise more than $14 million to support more than 300 ALS patients and their families. His commitment comes from learning his friend was diagnosed with ALS. At the time, his friend thought he only had two to three years to live. So, they wanted to bring awareness to the disease and help people in the community who are diagnosed.

For the last 28 years, Manzoni has set out to raise funds to help improve the quality of life of people diagnosed with ALS. Manzoni’s friend died in 2020, but Manzoni continues to lead the organization—raising $1 million in 2024 alone.

“I said to our board, ‘I didn’t die, and ALS didn’t go away. If anyone will keep this going and help it grow, it will be me,” says Manzoni.

JacQuan Winters is the first Good Neighbor Award winner from Alabama. He’s an author and real estate agent in Tuscaloosa and in 2021, after earning his real estate license the year before, Winters was named Rookie of the Year by the Tuscaloosa Association of Realtors.

But his passion outside of his office is the nonprofit he founded, the Kristen Amerson Youth Foundation. The foundation is named after his sister—who took her own life on April 10, 2014. She was 11.

Winters describes how his family was stunned and devastated. Three years later, when he started his nonprofit, his goal was ending youth suicide in West Alabama. Since its conception, the nonprofit has helped more than 20,000 children, adolescents, and adults with mental health and crisis prevention programs.

This year, his foundation has a budget of nearly $200,000 and five staff members—10% of that budget comes from grants. The other 90% comes from the foundation’s fundraising.

“When I’m invited to talk about suicide, I help people to engage by being vulnerable. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I’m very open about my story,” shares Winters.

Community-centered

Aside from the top five winners, five others were recognized as Good Neighbor Award honorable mentions. Each will receive $2,500 toward their charity.

“We received hundreds of compelling applications from passionate volunteer leaders. Choosing just five is never easy, but it’s incredibly heartwarming to read so many uplifting stories,” says Sara Geimer, manager, community engagement programs. “NAR members bring empathy and service to everything they do, whether guiding clients through life-changing transactions or improving lives in their neighborhoods and across the country.”