Ollivette Eugenia Smith Allison. Photo courtesy of the Carrie Steele-Pitts Home.

National Association of Social Workers member Ollivette Eugenia Smith Allison was 12 years old in 1936 when she and two brothers were sent to Atlanta’s Carrie Steele-Pitts group home after their parents divorced.

Group home founder Clara Pitts took a liking to Allison and allowed her to stay after she became an adult. Allison became the first social worker at the group home in 1950 and its director from 1976 until she retired last year. She died earlier this month at age 86.

The Carrie-Steele Pitts home was founded in 1888 by a former maid who cared for abandoned babies and children. Allison’s earlier experiences at the home influenced the way she handled children under her care.

“The children come from all kinds of hurt and shocks and all kinds of disappointment, things you can’t imagine a young child should have to bear,” she said. “So you do everything the best you can and you do it with consistency, persistence and a lot of patience, love and understanding.”

To read Allison’s obituary in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, click here.