Today we’d like to introduce you to Tee Blount
Hi Tee, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My mother died at age 46 from heart disease. She didn’t know she had heart disease until the day she collapsed at work. That would be the first day she ever missed work and the last day she ever worked. She was 44 at the time and even after two quadruple bypass surgeries, she died less than two years later.
At first, I didn’t think my mother’s death had anything to do with me. While researching the family’s history to write my mother’s obituary, I learned that all the women in my mother’s immediate family died younger than their mother. It was a revelation that was surprising, but still didn’t have a great impact on me at the time.
Fast forward eleven years after the death of my mom, I had moved from Baltimore to Atlanta, GA. I was seemingly healthy and a working single mom to my thirteen-year-old son. I was experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath. I had experienced these systems for days, but dismissed them as stress and a lack of exercise. Eventually, I went to the ER and things quickly unfolded from there. I found myself undergoing a variety of tests, including a nuclear stress test and the results of those tests, coupled with my family history resulted in me having a procedure called a cardiac catheterization.
I vividly recall lying on a cold operating room table and hearing a nurse say to another nurse “wow, she’s young.” It was that phrase in that moment that took me back to a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland where I heard a nurse say the same thing about my mother, when she was being wheeled into an operating room to undergo her first quadruple bypass surgery. In that very moment in that Atlanta hospital, I realized the connection, not only between my mother and me, but all the women in our immediate family. At the time of my cardiac cath I was thirty-seven years old.
When I was released from the hospital, I had a new outlook on life, and I was on a mission to raise awareness about heart disease. I wanted to live longer than my mother. I wanted to warn others about the silent killer. It was February when I was released from the hospital. February is National Heart Month and also my mother’s birth month. On February 26, 2011 (what would have been my mother’s 57th birthday), I invited some friends to lunch and asked them to wear red shoes and make donations to the American Heart Association in memory of my mom. I would go on to host the Red Shoe Lunch every year on the last Saturday of February. The donations were modest, nonetheless, my friends raised over $21,000 for the American Heart Association.
At age 40 I suffered a mini stroke known medically as a transient ischemic attack (TIA). I was a self-proclaimed poster child for heart disease and stroke. I spent years telling anyone who would listen about heart disease and the signs and symptoms of a stroke, yet when I was experiencing these exact symptoms, the ones I knew all too well, I ignored them. I could barely lift my left arm and even though that is one of the common symptoms of a stroke for women, I thought I was bitten by a spider. I took Benadryl and was preparing to sleep it off when a friend, who was also a paramedic could hear me slurring my words over the phone. I could not hear myself slurring my words, nor had I looked into a mirror to see my face drooping. At the extreme urging from my friend, I took my blood pressure. My blood pressure was stroke level, and I knew I indeed needed to get to the hospital. Again, still thinking I was superwoman, I attempted to drive myself to the hospital. I was just a few blocks from home when I stopped in the middle of a busy intersection because I didn’t know where I was and couldn’t gather my thoughts or speak. My son was in the passenger seat and called 911.
F.A.S.T. stands for Face, Arms, Speech and Time. I know this acronym and still chose to ignore the symptoms. I credit having access to a blood pressure monitor to saving my life. If I didn’t own a monitor, I would have gotten into bed to sleep. That could have been the last day of my life if I had a stroke and died in my sleep.
After several days in the I.C.U. I was released from the hospital and I was on yet another mission. I went to visit my ninety year old Aunt in Augusta, GA who was in the hospital. During her discharge the doctor asked if she had a blood pressure monitor at home to monitor her pressure daily. She did not have a monitor and my cousin asked the doctor “how much do they cost?”. I knew having a monitor saved my life, so I rushed to the pharmacy to buy my aunt a monitor. In the store I noticed that monitors weren’t cheap, especially for someone on a fixed income. In that store, I thought about all the people who could die because they didn’t know they should have a blood pressure monitor at home or they simply couldn’t afford to have one. Hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. People in underserved communities with little access to healthcare are often the ones whose hypertension goes untreated. I believe blood pressure monitors are like smoke detectors, every home should have one.
In 2022, I founded the Veronica Blount Memorial Foundation, named after my late mother. As a nonprofit organization, we raise money to purchase blood pressure monitors for those in need. Over the past year we held several community events, giving away hundreds of blood pressure monitors to those in need. We’ve partnered with pharmacists, nurses, and our resident chef to host these community health events.
2025 marks the 15th Anniversary for the Red Shoe Lunch and in those 15 years we have made strides in the fight against heart disease; nonetheless, we know there is still so much more work to be done. As the first woman in my immediate family to live longer than her mother, I realize my responsibility to raise awareness about heart disease. I believe I survived to save others.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The easiest thing for me to do was to realize I wanted to help save lives and raise awareness; the biggest challenge was raising the money to do so. We applied for grants, but we loss the awards to organizations with a larger impact; the ones that were already established with a wider reach. We solicited donors and corporate donations, but we were often met with regrets as most companies wanted a larger ROI and our reach was minimal. I often struggle with the reality that something I want to do for others may be beyond my capabilities. I simply can’t raise enough funds to keep the foundation afloat and I have created an enormous amount of personal debt trying to do so. To answer the question, no, the road is not smooth and the struggles are consistent, but so am I and so is the community we’ve built that supports our mission.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am most proud of our work in the community. We go into communities that others won’t visit. We reach people who are often forgotten. We are able to service communities with the greatest need. We host community health events in neighborhoods where the median household income is lower than the national poverty level. We bring in chefs to teach residents how to cook healthier meals using easily accessible and affordable ingredients. We partner with nurses and pharmacists to provide blood pressure screenings, vaccines and wellness clinics. We teach communities how to take their blood pressure, administer first-aid and perform CPR. These resources are life saving and they make an everlasting impact on the communities we serve.
We have programs to encourage fitness, heart health and healthy living. Our signature fundraising events, such as the Red Shoe Lunch and Red Shoe Heart Walk are events that bring a diverse group of donors together to give back in a fun and exciting way.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t necessarily believe in luck. I hold strong in my faith and I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, good or bad. I believe that we are all right where we’re supposed to be and all circumstances and situations are a part of life. Losing my mother at such a young age, right when I had become a young mother myself was the worst thing to happen to me thus far. I remember feeling lost and depressed. After my mother’s funeral, I went to Sears and purchased a sewing machine. I also went to Barnes and Noble and purchased a cookbook on Mac & Cheese. My mother was going to teach me to sew and she was going to show me her special recipe for Mac & Cheese. In grief, I thought of the things we had yet to do; however, as time passed, it was all of the things we had done that filled my heart with memories.
My mother’s death taught me to live life to the fullest! It gave me courage to fight and educate myself. It gave me a sense of purpose and the desire to help others. It taught me the importance of being a great mother. My mother’s death is the reason I’m alive. If she had not died from heart disease, it’s very likely I would not have taken it so seriously. I’ve been under the care of a cardiologist since I was 36 years old and heart disease will not kill me… I won’t let it!
Pricing:
- We are a 501(C)3 nonprofit and all cash donations are tax deductible. We look for volunteers, donors, sponsors and in-kind donations.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.redshoelunch.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redshoelunch
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redshoelunch
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/90811022
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjfj540J635zDHgt3_rGxPQ
Image Credits
Paul Daniel, Charles Forde, Leon Foy Jr., Colin Maloney
