CAES alumnus starts child advocacy program to support families coping with trauma

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.

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