Page 5 - Delaware Association of Realtors

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION
There’s plenty of overlap between a volunteer and a REALTOR®: Both are focused on strengthening communities and the lives of those who reside there.
Nearly 70 percent of REALTORS® volunteer in their community each month.
Beau Zebley, president of the board of directors of the Delaware Association of REALTORS®, is also a board member at Housing Alliance Delaware, a Wilmington-based nonprofit. They administer the Delaware 211 hotline, which directs people without a home to available shelters.
Partly because he was a foster child until the age of 8, Zebley sees volunteering as a chance to give others what he was given.
“I was given opportunities in my life that got me to where I am now, and when you’re a businessperson you’re afforded more connections that you can use to improve your community,” he says.
For Brigit Taylor, director of membership for the Women’s Council of REALTORS® in Sussex County, volunteering also shows buyers and sellers that REALTORS® share their values.
“Our clients enjoy and like to do business with people who care about their community and care about where they live,” she says.
REALTORS® who give back are honored by both Delaware’s local associations and the DAR as part of the National Association of REALTORS® Good Neighbor Program.
2018 Good Neighbors
Terri Sensing, New Castle County Board of REALTORS®
Good Neighbors Home Repair
Terri Sensing, a New Castle REALTOR® with more than 20 years of experience, doesn’t have to look far to see the reason that she volunteers.
She sees it in the eyes of people whose homes are made safer, drier and warmer through the work of Good Neighbors Home Repair. The nonprofit, which serves northern New Castle County and southern Chester County,
Pennsylvania, fixes homes for people who lack the financial or physical means to do so.
“It gives them a sense of relief, that they’re safe and comfortable again and can concentrate on other parts of their life,” she says.
Sensing sees their hope—the feeling that they’ll be able to stay in their homes. She also sees gratitude that someone, especially a stranger, cares about them.
“I believe keeping people in their homes is important,” Sensing says. “It helps provide a foundation for their lives and their family’s lives.”
Often, a resident may be older and unable to make repairs themselves. Typical upgrades include adding a ramp to a home or replacing an old water heater.
Sensing serves on the board as secretary and contributes labor for more basic upgrades like painting. The nonprofit uses licensed professionals for skilled labor.
Monica LeBlanc, Kent County Board of REALTORS®
American Bikers Aiming
Our clients enjoy and like to do business with people who care about their community and care about where they live. – Brigit Taylor
Toward Education (A.B.A.T.E.)
Monica LeBlanc began riding motorcycles in a group, and soon she was doing more than riding. Working with A.B.A.T.E., the Dover-based REALTOR® with 15 years of experience began educating her community on motorcycle safety.
One such point is how blowing grass clippings in the street can put bikers’ lives in danger. “It’s like riding on ice and people have been killed because of it,” she says.
A.B.A.T.E. members also clean up
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