Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 2, 2009
Realtor nominated for national Good Neighbor Award
David Laprad
Every day, Realtors across the country volunteer their time, with many giving countless hours in support of others. The National Association of Realtors recently announced 10 such individuals as finalists for Realtor Magazine’s 2009 Good Neighbor Awards. Included on the list of nominees is Regina Ragon, a residential agent with Prudential Realty Center in Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga.
During a 2004 mission trip to Nicaragua, Ragon was inspired to improve the living conditions of local residents and find ways for them to become more self-sufficient.
“We gave them stuff, which made us feel good about ourselves, but it didn’t help them in the long run,” Ragon says. “I didn’t like that, so I started thinking about helping them in ways that would be more sustainable and empowering.”
To support her vision, Ragon founded Latin American Community Development and then recruited help from family, friends and various churches in the area, including Brainerd Presbyterian, St. Elmo United Methodist and her grandmother’s church, Fairview United Methodist.
Working from a desire to go into an area that had never received help, she set up a committee in the Nicaraguan village of Calishaute and challenged it to identify the community’s three greatest needs. At the top of its list was a medical clinic.
“They were having to walk to the medical clinic in the next town, which is difficult when the roads are bad and you’re sick,” Ragon says.
To earn money to build the clinic, Ragon’s mother and grandmother baked “about 700 cakes,” which Ragon delivered “all over town.” In addition to staffing the clinic, which included sending the coordinator to nursing school, Ragon also obtained about $40,000 worth of used medical equipment from InterVol, a New York-based nonprofit organization.
Ragon enlisted help wherever she could to meet some of the other needs of the community. Dalton High School, for example, hosted a soccer tournament that raised money to place iron bars on the doors and windows of the school. “The kids were having to walk a mile to school with their desks on their heads because there wasn’t any security at the school,” says Ragon. “They were afraid someone would steal their desks, so they’d haul their desks home at the end of the day and then bring them back the next morning.”
Other projects included installing a water tank at the school, repairing the roofs of 20 homes in rain-soaked Calishaute and forming a cooperative to help local women earn money.
“They’re making sheets, shirts and things like that and then selling them at the local marketing to help support their family,” Ragon says.
Ragon also solicited help from the Chattanooga business community. Prudential Realty Center, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Bi-Lo, CVS and other companies have all donated materials.
In November, the NAR will select five winners from among the 10 finalists. Benefits include travel expenses to the 2009 Realtor’s Conference & Expo in San Diego, national media exposure and a $10,000 grant for the winner’s charity. Five honorable mentions will receive a $2,500 grant.
If the NAR selects Ragon as one of its winners, she plans to use the money to purchase fertilizer that would be used to replenish farms in Calishaute, repair more roofs and start a children’s library next to the school.
“Realtors build communities and play an important volunteer role for organizations across the country, helping to improve the quality of life for those less fortunate or in need,” NAR President Charles McMillan said in a press release announcing the nominations. “Despite today’s busy world, the Good Neighbor Awards finalists still find ways to give their time in service to others. They are truly inspiring and deserve to be recognized for their hard work.”
Ragon is certainly busy. In addition to spending about 40 hours a week selling real estate, she teaches Spanish to native Spanish speakers at Dalton High School. “They’re Hispanics who have lived here their entire lives but don’t know how to read or write well,” says Rason. “So I teach them to read and write, and we go over the literature and culture of their country.”
Rason also teaches English to immigrants and attends John Marshall law school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
“I haven’t decided whether I’m going to work in property, immigration or international law,” she says.
Whatever Ragon ends up doing with her law degree, chances are she’ll find a way to benefit others, as helping people in need is one of the driving forces of her life. Even in these challenging economic times, she uses the money she earns through selling real estate to fund her efforts in Nicaragua.
A native of Flint, Ga., Ragon lives on the farm her family purchased in the early 1800s. She’s a descendent of both the McCallies and the Stoners, with one of her great-great-grandfathers being Arthur Stoner, a farmer, and other being John McCallie, a carpenter. The latter helped to build the Lookout Mountain Hotel that burned to the ground in the early 20th century.
Ragon is the daughter of Rev. Ronald Ragon, former pastor of Brainerd Presbyterian Church, and Judy Ragon. She survived an accident in 2008 in which the driver of another vehicle lost control of her car and struck the Jeep Ragon was driving. Ragon suffered severe injuries that nearly killed her, but she survived and is working harder than ever today.
Living on her family farm has helped Ragon appreciate having a nice home; this gratitude in turn fuels her work with Prudential and her humanitarian efforts in Nicaragua. “I want people to have a good place to live, whether it’s here in the states or in another country,” she sayd. “I’ve always lived comfortably and I’d like to see other people have the same opportunity.”
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