Turning a Negative Into a Positive

With COVID 19, I know many of us have been experiencing some very tough times.  We have faced the dangers to our health and our friends and family’s health that have come with the pandemic, and we’ve also experienced the negative economic circumstances that have emerged in our nation and community.

I know one thing that has been tough for me is the social isolation experienced. I miss seeing my friends and family, going to meetings, and participating in person in my networking group. If you had asked me before the pandemic hit if I were more of an extrovert or introvert, I would tell you that I lean to more of the introverted side of the spectrum. But these three months have revealed to me that I am in fact an extrovert, and greatly enjoy and thrive off being around people.

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An Interview With Eddie Mannis

Eddie Mannis is a native Knoxvillian, who grew up in the Inskip community and graduated from Central High School. The founder of Prestige Cleaners, he is heavily involved in giving back to the community through efforts like HonorAir, which takes veterans from Knoxville to Washington, DC to visit their respective war memorials. He recently announced his candidacy for Knoxville city mayor in 2019, and we met for this interview in July at his home in west Knoxville.

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13,000 Saved!

One of my favorite animal rescue groups in our area is the GoNorth Animal Transport Collaborative. Since 2012 they have rescued over 13,000 dogs from rural East Tennessee shelters that have high euthanasia rates and transported them to Northern states, where the dogs are adopted out.

When you have a second, please watch this short video about the history of the rescue:

And the main point of this post:

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An Interview with Loida Velazquez, On How We Can Help the People of Puerto Rico

                        Loida Velazquez

I have been very moved and disturbed with the horrific carnage that Hurricane Maria left on the people of Puerto Rico. Like many Americans I’ve been wondering what I can do to help the efforts that are being done to help alleviate some of the pain the people there are feeling.

My good friend Loida Velazquez, who is very active in the community in Knoxville, was born in Puerto Rico and is leading local East Tennessee efforts to support the people there. I interviewed her to get her take on the situation and what we can do to help.

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The 125 Million Dollar Football Philanthropist

Derek Carr and his family

For those that don’t know, I’m a huge Oakland Raiders fan.  Folks often ask me how I came to follow a team on the opposite side of the country. The origins of that come from my Aunt Shelia, who lives in San Leandro, (a town right next to Oakland) and ran a successful small business in Oakland for a few decades prior to beginning a career in public service.

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New Goal- $10,000 in Donations, Making a Real Impact!

I am much more than a real estate agent.  The same could be said of all of you that have different professions- lawyer, librarian, sales clerk, teacher, priest, factory worker, etc….

And in that vein operating a real estate business, I wanted it to be about much more than typical real estate stuff….

Last year I became inspired to use my real estate business as a mechanism to raise money for animal rescue groups in our area.  My beloved companions that I’ve rescued over the years, along with hearing the stories of the important work animal rescue groups do, gave me the inspirations to make my business something more than just a profit center but also a philanthropic center.

In a little over 12 months Knoxville Homes with Cameron Brooks has donated over $4,000 dollars to local animal rescue groups…. How we do this is by dedicating 5% of profits to going to support groups that help animal welfare in the greater Knoxville area.

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