Love in Action
Alumnus starts child advocacy program to support youth and families coping with trauma
Anna Blount sits with Selina, Team Up Mentoring’s facility dog.
Anna Blount sits with Selina, Team Up Mentoring’s facility dog.
“We have a chance to really get to know caregivers and to build trust with them, so that they know, ‘Hey, we’re really here for you and really here for your kids. Whatever happens, we’re going to stick with you.’”
An 11-year-old girl changed everything for Anna Blount.
Blount enrolled in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 2001 with plans to go on to veterinary school. She loved animals and worked at a veterinary clinic while she earned her degree in biological science.
But, as a college student, Blount also became a de facto parent.
While volunteering with a church ministry in Monroe, Georgia, Blount met a young girl who had fallen on hard times, outside of her control, and needed a place to stay. Despite her own youth, the Walton County Department of Family and Children Services approved Blount as a temporary caretaker of the young girl.
It was in those few weeks, as long-term solutions were sorted out, that Blount saw firsthand the difficulty of a child navigating life-changing hardships. She decided to make it her life’s work to make it easier.
“For her, as a kid, suddenly all these people in her life that she had never met before — that don’t know her — were making decisions about her life,” she said.
Blount sought best practices for her new caregiving role and immediately started conducting research at libraries on campus, a skill she learned at CAES.
“The biggest thing I wanted to do was to be able to have long-term relationships with kids and families and help other providers connect the dots,” she said.
Shortly after graduating from CAES in 2005, Blount founded Team Up Mentoring, a nonprofit organization that fosters generational change for families affected by trauma.
Blount has been nationally recognized for her work as Team Up’s executive director. She was an honoree at the L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth celebration in 2022. The achievement came after a long personal journey — quitting a full-time teaching job, selling her house and moving in with her parents to cut expenses and focus on Team Up’s mission.
The nonprofit serves more than 60 children who qualify for assistance due to four or more Adverse Childhood Experiences, called “ACEs,” categorized by abuse, neglect or household dysfunction.
Blount believes it only takes one person to change the potential negative outcomes of childhood trauma.
“When one caregiver or child makes an achievement for themselves, the next people behind them see that, believe it and are encouraged to strive and dream for themselves,” she said.
Anna Blount sits with Selina, Team Up Mentoring’s facility dog.
Anna Blount sits with Selina, Team Up Mentoring’s facility dog.
An 11-year-old girl changed everything for Anna Blount.
Blount enrolled in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 2001 with plans to go on to veterinary school. She loved animals and worked at a veterinary clinic while she earned her degree in biological science.
But, as a college student, Blount also became a de facto parent.
While volunteering with a church ministry in Monroe, Georgia, Blount met a young girl who had fallen on hard times, outside of her control, and needed a place to stay. Despite her own youth, the Walton County Department of Family and Children Services approved Blount as a temporary caretaker of the young girl.
It was in those few weeks, as long-term solutions were sorted out, that Blount saw firsthand the difficulty of a child navigating life-changing hardships. She decided to make it her life’s work to make it easier.
“For her, as a kid, suddenly all these people in her life that she had never met before — that don’t know her — were making decisions about her life,” she said.
Blount sought best practices for her new caregiving role and immediately started conducting research at libraries on campus, a skill she learned at CAES.
“The biggest thing I wanted to do was to be able to have long-term relationships with kids and families and help other providers connect the dots,” she said.
Shortly after graduating from CAES in 2005, Blount founded Team Up Mentoring, a nonprofit organization that fosters generational change for families affected by trauma.
Blount has been nationally recognized for her work as Team Up’s executive director. She was an honoree at the L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth celebration in 2022. The achievement came after a long personal journey — quitting a full-time teaching job, selling her house and moving in with her parents to cut expenses and focus on Team Up’s mission.
The nonprofit serves more than 60 children who qualify for assistance due to four or more Adverse Childhood Experiences, called “ACEs,” categorized by abuse, neglect or household dysfunction.
Blount believes it only takes one person to change the potential negative outcomes of childhood trauma.
“When one caregiver or child makes an achievement for themselves, the next people behind them see that, believe it and are encouraged to strive and dream for themselves,” she said.
Most kids stay with Team Up for 12 to 15 years, across its elementary and teen programs, which helps to mitigate the information loss that often occurs with institutional turnover, where all that’s left are sparse notes. Caregivers also receive services throughout their child’s development.
“We know these kids deeply,” Blount said. “We know their families … We know who Auntie so-and-so is and what happened to Grandma 10 years ago. We have pictures from when they were in preschool and kindergarten, and now they’re in high school.
Team Up children meet with their mentors twice a week and participate in a free summer day camp. If a child needs transportation to the nonprofit’s programs, that’s also covered.
The organization keeps an eye on a child’s needs elsewhere, focuses on school performance and provides a tutor if necessary. Staff may also connect children to counseling services, doctors or nutritionists.
There is also a program for caregivers, who receive ongoing guidance from case managers.
“We have a chance to really get to know caregivers and to build trust with them, so that they know, ‘Hey, we’re really here for you and really here for your kids. Whatever happens, we’re going to stick with you.’”
Blount sees Team Up’s programs as a vehicle to deliver the love its staff bestows.
“The heart of Team Up is to love people and to love people well — to see people, to know people and to love people,” Blount said.
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