MURFREESBORO—"We are so blessed in Rutherford County that some of the very best people in our community serve on the Child Protective Investigative Team,” shared Child Advocacy Center director Sharon De Boer. “That makes it very hard for the Child Advocacy Center to decide who to recognize every year at the Hometown Heroes Walk for Children because there are so many deserving children’s advocates in this community.”
The five individuals recognized this year at the annual Hometown Heroes Walk for Children on Friday morning, April 24, 2026 were: Christal Wilson, Catherine Post, D.J. Jackson, Sue Fort White, and Aeryn McMurtry. They are each servant leaders who work behind the scenes and make our community a safer place for children. Picture Above Article.
Christal Wilson: Originally from Flint, Michigan, Christal Wilson made her way to Tennessee to pursue both her education and her passion for athletics as a member of the MTSU track and field team. Tennessee quickly became home. She earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Social Work from Middle Tennessee State University. During her collegiate years, she was a dedicated student athlete who helped lead the MTSU track team to its first Sun Belt Indoor Track & Field Championship in eight ears—a milestone that reflected her perseverance and team spirit.
In 2016, Wilson joined the Department of Children’s Services as a CPS case manager. Her commitment, leadership, and unwavering focus on child safety led to her promotion to team leader in 2021. Known for her tireless work ethic, she is deeply devoted to ensuring children are protected and families are supported.
Beyond her responsibilities with DCS, Wilson is in her second year as an adjunct professor at MTSU, where she guides and inspires the next generation of social workers. She also gives back to the community by coaching a youth track and field team, blending her love for the sport with her passion for mentoring young people. Christal Wilson is a remarkable leader whose dedication to child welfare, education, and community service exemplifies what it means to be a Hometown Hero.
Catherine Post: Catherine Post’s academic achievements, career path, and community service are impressive. She holds a Juris Doctor from Nashville School of Law and an MBA from the University of Tennessee's Haslam College of Business — a combination that uniquely equips her to bridge legal strategy with business insight. Post currently serves as In-House Counsel for the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, where she provides strategic legal guidance at the intersection of energy, governance, and public service. Her journey to this position is marked by a powerful progression of leadership and impact. She began her legal career in private practice at the LaRoche Law Office, honed her legal expertise serving as an attorney at Clark Legal and as an associate attorney with Wilson Howser Oliver & Turner. At Tower Community Bank she built and strengthened compliance programs from the ground up, oversaw audits and examinations, and advised executive leadership.
Catherine Post joined the Child Advocacy Center Board of Directors as the Junior League representative in August, 2018. She served in many capacities on the board, including serving on the Light Up the Night event committee, the Capital Campaign Committee, the Building Committee, and spearheading the Construction Committee. In 2019, she became Secretary of the Board of Directors before becoming Vice President in 2021, and then President from 2023 to 2025.
But what truly distinguishes this Hometown Hero is her approach: a collaborative leader, a thoughtful problem-solver, a strong advocate for children, and a professional driven by a genuine passion for community impact.
D.J. Jackson: De Boer first met Rutherford County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. D.J. Jackson when she started working cases at the CAC. Jackson and Detective Britt Reed were an incredible team. De Boer was immediately impressed with their thorough investigative skills and the empathetic way they worked with children and families.
Detective Sgt. Jackson graduated from MTSU. He believes in specialized training for the detectives he supervises, and the CAC forensic interviewers. He earned the FBI-LEEDA Trilogy Award of leadership training. The leadership training is comprised of the Supervisor Leadership Institute, Command Leadership Institute, and Executive Leadership Institute courses.
This detective is a well-respected member of the Child Protective Investigative Team and he supports the collaborative interdisciplinary team. He helped establish the Sexual Assault Response Team for adults and developed victim centered protocols. This approach emphasizes cooperation between law enforcement, advocates, and prosecutors.
Jackson went with the CPIT Management Team to visit CACs and Family Justice Centers across the state with co-located Child Protective Investigative Teams and brought great ideas back to our CPIT Team.
D.J. Jackson investigated a sudden, unexplained death of a 1-year-old baby boy. The child’s death devasted the family and emotionally impacted the first responders. During the thorough investigation, this detective treated the parents with compassion and respect. He completed the investigation showing the parents were not at fault. The parents appreciated his dedication and the baby’s father gave the detective a tree to plant in memory of his son.
Sue Fort White: Sue Fort White has dedicated 40 years of her life to mobilizing resources for vulnerable populations, including domestic violence victims, teens and families in crisis, children in foster care, and child sexual abuse victims and their families. She is in her 20th year of service at Our Kids Center. She has helped shape Our Kids into the incredible evidence-based and trauma-informed organization that it is today. Our Kids is a vital part of the multidisciplinary team approach to child abuse and child sexual abuse investigations, and this Hometown Hero’s leadership has been incredibly valuable.
During her tenure at Our Kids, the agency has provided expert medical evaluations and crisis counseling for nearly 15,000 children. Over the life of the organization, Our Kids has made a difference in the lives of over 32,000 Middle Tennessee children, including Rutherford and Cannon County child sexual abuse victims. Under her leadership, Our Kids opened 4 satellite clinics in underserved areas so that children can get services closer to home, and the Child Advocacy Center is excited to announce the opening of the 5th satellite clinic co-located right here in Murfreesboro in collaboration with the Child Advocacy Center of Rutherford County!
Sue Fort White’s passion for children and families is unrivaled—and her impact is extraordinary. She leads with both heart and purpose, and her unwavering commitment to children and families inspires us every single day.
Aeryn McMurtry: Aeryn McMurtry grew up in Middle Tennessee. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Literary Studies and Creative Writing from Roanoke College. She worked at her college newspaper as a staff writer and section editor. She did a student internship at Leisure Media 360 magazine.
McMurtry loves to write and when the Child Advocacy Center interviewed her for her job, she said, “It would be my dream job to come to work and write all day long.” She is the CAC grant writer and she definitely writes all day long. She wrote over $3.5 million of grant applications last year. She writes federal, state, and local government grant application, foundation grants, and trust funds. She writes press releases, fundraising letters, newsletters, and the night before the event she was writing the Hometown Hero award speeches.
McMurtry maintains the CAC existing grant applications, researches new grants, and secures new funding sources. In four years, she doubled the CAC grant budget from $653,000 to $1.3 million. This translates into more employees who provide critically needed services to child abuse victims and their families. She secured a $1 million State of TN Opioid Grant. The CAC will be able to help 3 times as many children this next year who have been exposed to their parents’ drug use because of her efforts.
McMurtry’s mother, Sarannah McMurtry said, “This job is ideal for her because she has always wanted to make her living writing and she loves that is able to help people at the same time.”
That is exactly what motivates all of these Hometown Heroes. They each have a strong desire to help children and families. We are blessed in Rutherford County to have each of them working their hearts out every day to make our community a wonderful place for children to grow up.
