Nora Partlow with Gov. Ralph Northam and Dr. Basim Kahn, executive director of Neighborhood Health.
One of Alexandria's own, Nora Partlow, Coldwell Banker, has won a 2019 Good Neighbor Award, thanks to her volunteer work at Neighborhood Health, which provides health services on a sliding price scale to lower-income patients in Alexandria and surrounding areas. Partlow has volunteered with Neighborhood Health in Del Ray for more than 21 years. In recognition of her contributions, the award includes a $5000 grant from Coldwell Banker to Neighborhood Health.
Partlow was a coffee shop owner when she became aware of Neighborhood Health. It had one site at the time, and she noticed that many of its clients were using her nearby coffee shop, situated among low-income housing units in the Del Ray neighborhood, as an ad hoc waiting room. She became a fervent supporter of the clinic’s mission when she realized that many of her employees, primarily minimum-wage workers, couldn’t afford quality medical care. Even though Partlow covered 50% of the cost of her employees’ health insurance premiums, most couldn’t afford the remainder.
At meetings for the Del Ray Business Association, Partlow mobilized support for the health center. She pointed out that “small businesses depend on employees to be well so they can come to work and, as minimum wage workers, those employees depend on [Neighborhood Health] for medical care,” she recalls. She encouraged business owners to donate their time, resources, and funding, and the association added Neighborhood Health to its list of beneficiaries from its First Thursday street fairs.
During its annual convention from November 8-11, the National Association of Realtors celebrated the 20th year of the Good Neighbor Awards program, which honor Realtors for their achievements as volunteers who improve the lives of people in need around them.