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OLIVETTE S. ALLISON was nominated by Mary Yancey, who serves on the Board of Carrie Steele Pitts Children's Home in Atlanta where Allison serves as Director. She started there as a twelve year old resident in 1936, then became their first social worker after having graduated from Spelman College and earning a degree in Social Work at Atlanta University. The Children's Home has been her home for 71 years now. Her philosophy is embodied in her belief that the two most important things you can give a child are "time, and love". She gives lots of both to those children fortunate enough to be placed in her care, making her heart, and her hands, available to them all. She says "sometimes I wonder if it didn't just happen on purpose" and "I'm doing what I was suppose to do in my life." The Olivette S. Allison Life Learning Center, built in her honor, was opened at the Home in 2004. A resolution, HB 801, was passed by the Georgia legislature in January, 1998, to honor Allison, now age 83, for her continued contributions to Georgia's children.