NVAR Award Candidates Give by Assisting Essential Nonprofits That Help Our Community

Winner to Be Announced at the Oct. 9 Annual Meeting During the NVAR Convention.

ALEX BOSTON
The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation

Alex Boston, a Realtor® with Long & Foster Real Estate in Falls Church, has always been involved in public service – serving in various government capacities before becoming a Realtor® and volunteering with The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation. “I was drawn to The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation because of its mission, which combines broad social justice goals along with making the unique community of Falls Church City more welcoming and an inclusive place,” Boston said.

As the foundation’s chair of the board, Boston works closely with board members and volunteers to highlight the history, culture and contributions of African Americans in Northern Virginia.

Boston first became involved with the foundation five years ago when he volunteered at its annual blues festival, which he said is one of the organization’s most well-known annual events.

Shortly after graduating from Yale in 1988, Boston studied to be a Realtor®, but his plan was interrupted by a joint degree program which led him to a career in public service.

Beginning his career in his hometown of Baltimore, Boston worked in community development before becoming a foreign service officer with the State Department, where he served overseas in Pakistan and El Salvador. Boston later returned to Baltimore, where he worked in local government. He subsequently returned to the federal government as a Peace Corps Country Director in Kyrgyzstan and Jordan.

“Circling back, moving to Falls Church was the perfect time to fulfill my dream of becoming a Realtor®,” Boston said.

Knowing what it is like to transition to a new house and make it a home, Boston believes that he can use his experience abroad to help foreign service and military clients.

He said he is grateful for his colleagues at Long and Foster, including his broker, David Gillis, who have jumped in to help support The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.
“I view real estate as being not only about properties; it’s about communities,” Boston said. “Volunteering is the perfect opportunity for Realtors® to get involved in the communities that we live and work in.”

JOE FACENDA
Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia; Fairfax County Jail

Joe Facenda, a Realtor® with RE/MAX Gateway in Fairfax, believes that a stable family life is critical in order for parents to raise successful children.

Residing in an affordable home is part of that equation, which motivated Facenda to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity Northern Virginia (Habitat NOVA) for two decades.

According to Gary Fitzgibbon, a Realtor® who nominated Facenda, “Joe has told me that all the thanks he needs is hearing stories from families on how the stable home [they received from Habitat] helped them and their children succeed.”

Facenda found the right volunteer match when he learned about Habitat’s mission of providing “a hand up, not a hand out.” He served on Habitat NOVA’s Family Selection Committee, on its land committee and as the Habitat NOVA Board Chairman. His success was not only in placing qualified families into new homes, but also in helping Habitat to open a second ReStore in Chantilly while he was chairman.

“[The ReStore] keeps useful items out of the dump and allows [people] to purchase home goods, tools and furniture at fantastic prices,” Facenda, who is an advocate for recycling, said. “Revenues from the ReStore cover overhead, so that a bigger share of cash donations pays for its mission.”

Facenda also volunteers with Mentoring Ministry for Inmates at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Mentoring in the jail for one hour weekly is part of Facenda’s give-back itinerary.

“Most of the guys I’ve met have children and are heartbroken that they have let them down,” he said. “I am not a counselor nor a social worker, but I do believe just talking to these guys and showing them there are ways to reconcile and be a better man is helpful.”

While he cannot measure how much influence his mentoring provides, he does get close to the inmates he mentors and finds the experience to be mutually beneficial. “It gives me such joy to see them change,” he said.

Earning placements in both programs took persistence, he explained. Facenda’s advice for other Realtors® is to find a niche to give back: “Find your passion and make it happen. Don’t give up.”

TORI MCKINNEY
The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation

Tori McKinney’s love of music inspired her to get involved with The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation and plan its annual blues festival.

“I love music; it’s my second language,” she said. “With my experience in music production, planning the Tinner Hill Blues Festival was a perfect fit.”

McKinney, CEO of ROCK STAR Realty Group with Keller Williams Realty, has volunteered for the foundation for seven years and been a member of its board of directors since 2017. She also coordinates the foundation’s beer garden event, which helps to raise money for the organization.

“She is a cheerful giver of her time and her financial resources for the betterment of our organization, which we are very grateful for,” said Edwin B. Henderson, executive director of The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.

McKinney decided to become a Realtor® in college when her father, who was a contractor, encouraged her to pursue a career in real estate. She practiced real estate in Boston for 10 years before moving to Virginia and starting a concert production
and promotions firm. After working in the music industry for several years, she went back to her roots and became a Realtor® in Northern Virginia.

McKinney’s community involvement is not limited to the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation. Before her daughter was even in kindergarten, McKinney volunteered in the school’s PTA. Later, when her daughter was a student there, McKinney joined the fine arts committee where she booked talent for school assemblies.

After Hurricane Katrina, McKinney organized various benefits and fundraisers that raised nearly $250,000 for those affected by the disaster. She also visited New Orleans several times to provide on-the-ground support. McKinney and her daughter, Halley, were awarded the Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2006 by the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce for their hurricane relief efforts.

“I would encourage other Realtors® to get involved to become a bigger part of the Falls Church community,” McKinney said. “Explore the benefits of being a community supporter.”

NORA PARTLOW
Neighborhood Health of Virginia

The Neighborhood Health of Virginia nonprofit nominated Nora Partlow for the 2018 NVAR Hero Award for her 21 years of time, donations, and leadership in support of fundraising events netting more than $550,000.

The nomination cited that Partlow inspired more than 250 local leaders to support the Neighborhood Health’s mission, which advances health equity in Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax by delivering high quality medical care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.

In 1996, Arlington resident Partlow, a Realtor® with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, opened a coffee shop to help what she called a “honky tonk neighborhood” in Alexandria.

Partlow came to the United States from Cuba as a seven-yearold child, and her family experienced firsthand the socio-economic challenges faced by some neighborhoods. Always an independent business woman, she embodied her father’s influence to be socially proactive and give back to her community.

“After I opened the [coffee shop], I learned about Neighborhood Health, which started waiting, the other, the examination room,” Partlow recalled. “They used my [coffee shop] seating area as their office space. Then I started helping with their Cinco De Mayo gala, and they pulled me in as a fundraiser. They had no resources.”

Her coffee shop kicked off a transformation of the Del Ray neighborhood. “Little by little, there was a sort of domino effect,” she explained. Del Ray is now known as bike friendly, metro-friendly, music friendly. “We became the Main Street of Alexandria, only in Del Ray,” she recalled.

After the 2007 downturn, Partlow realized that to keep her coffee shop doors open, she needed new income. She pursued real estate with intentions to become a referral Realtor®, but ultimately became a successful full-time Realtor®.

Receiving an official commendation from Virginia for community leadership and revitalization efforts, Partlow was lauded by then- Mayor Bill Euille and other officials for her positive impact on Del Ray’s business and philanthropic communities.

The Del Ray Business Association granted her its first ever ‘Key to the City.’ Partlow also donated time to First Night Alexandria, Turkey Trot, First Thursday, Halloween festivities and Visit Alexandria events.