WARM Board President-Elect Mandy Mattox Honored with Humanitarian Award

On Monday, March 28th, the Wilmington REALTORS® Foundation presented Mandy Mattox, WARM Board President-elect, with the John Pierson Humanitarian Award. The award was created in 2018 and is presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership to a local nonprofit.

“John Pierson was the President of the foundation for over 20 years since its inception,” said Jody Wainio, President of the Wilmington REALTORS® Foundation. “He passed away last year and I took his position. Little did we know this would be an opportunity to honor his memory for years to come.” Mattox, who is a residential real estate agent with Landmark Sotheby’s International Realty, says she chose to serve on the WARM board for several reasons.

“Initially I joined WARM because it was a natural fit, being that I help people purchase and sell their homes,” she said. “Why not join the mission to help low-income homeowners live safely in their homes? In addition to that, it is quite apparent that the work WARM completes for those homeowners in need is truly life changing.”

In addition to recognizing Mattox for her service, the foundation also awarded WARM a $2,000 donation. Wainio says since the foundation is a nonprofit itself, they believe in supporting others. Their mission is providing resources to create housing opportunities for a better quality of life in our community. They currently have six acres on Carolina Beach Road that they are developing into a 48-unit townhome community which they will sell to workforce housing clients.

“These are members of the community like police officers, teachers, firefighters, and medical workers who earn between 80-120% of area median income,” said Wainio. “We call these members of our community our ‘missing middle.’ They make too much to qualify for subsidized programs and down payment assistance, but not enough to buy a market rate home in our community.”

Mattox says while she is honored to receive the award, she doesn’t know that she will ever feel like she does enough.

“When driving through neighborhoods, you will always see pockets where it is obvious that the need for assistance is high,” she said. “This is why I completely believe in WARM’s mission. If you do not know the full extent of how WARM helps our community, I would encourage you to reach out and ask questions or volunteer on one of our rebuilds. You may find that it not only helps the lives of others, but also your own!”