Our Brands
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Palmer Home provides superior care to children through four specialized services. By meeting each child at their stage in life, Palmer Home provides healing and support, allowing children to grow and thrive.
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Our proprietary approach to care provides a trauma informed, holistic, and relationally centered foundation and guides all that we do. We seek to help vulnerable children overcome trauma and position them to thrive in home, school and community life.
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The Dr. Hugh Francis, Jr. Wellness Center is a 25,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that welcomes all to Palmer Home. With classrooms, counseling suites, therapy rooms and recreational areas, the Wellness Center provides a space for hope and healing in accordance with our Whole Child Initiative.
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Three Palmer Home thrift stores locations in Mississippi make it easy for customers to find gently used furniture, clothing, and many other items at great values with proceeds benefiting our mission.
Our financials in black and white.
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The Four Service Lines
Campus Care
Children live on campus in a Christ-centered family atmosphere connected to trustworthy adults. These children are supported as they grow and develop during their time on campus.
STAGES OF CAMPUS CARE
There are no formal stages of campus care, as each child’s experience is unique. The ideal maximum length of stay in Campus Care is approximately 18–24 months.
Intake | Assessment | Whole Child Reviews | Discharge
Foster Care
Palmer Home licenses the foster home and matches children with the family best suited for all parties. Foster families are expected to be supportive of maintaining connections with the child’s biological family in regard to visitation and reunification.
PALMER HOME VS traditional FOSTER CARE
Palmer Home’s foster-care system is set apart from state-run foster- care systems in a few ways. Palmer Home is a nonprofit, faith-based agency; therefore, zero government funding is accepted by Palmer Home. There is a focus placed on keeping sibling groups unified if at all possible. Palmer Home does not pay foster parents/families, and all foster care workers are required to attend Whole Child training.
Family Care
Infants of mothers in prison receive nurturing care with the goal of reunification with their mothers. Staff and caregivers also support mothers during their prison sentences and after release. All stages of family care are voluntary on the family’s part.
Family Care is different from state foster care. SFC can impose requirements for the Mother in order for the child to be returned, but Palmer Home cannot. Our priority is to care for and maintain the relationship with the long-term goal of reunification.
STAGES OF Family CARE
Licensure Placement | Aftercare | Family Preservation
Transitional Care
Stages of Transitional Care
Each stage of transitional care is designed to meet the young adult and guide them through this transitional time in life. All young people in transitional care are paired with a case manager who will maintain contact with them throughout their time with Palmer Home and for the years after.
Transitional Living | Independent Living | After Care
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The Whole Child Initiative
What Is Whole Child?
Trauma-sensitive and comprehensive care
Our proprietary approach to care provides a trauma-informed, holistic, and relationally-centered foundation and guides all that we do. We seek to help vulnerable children overcome trauma and position them to thrive in home, school, and community life.
The Whole Child Initiative-often referred to as WCI or Whole Child-is a holistic approach to care. This methodology has a goal of care for children and teams with a full understanding of trauma and the healing process.
Palmer Home for Children offers training and resources for teams and groups looking for a deeper look into the impact of trauma and attachment on child development. This training provides comprehensive, trauma-informed approaches to organizations caring for children.
For further information or questions about training please contact Lauren Strickland, Director of Whole Child, at [email protected].
The Values
Felt safety - “Am I safe?”
Trauma-informed organizations ensure a safe and supportive environment for all involved. This includes clients, staff, and volunteers alike. Felt safety includes all areas and is prioritized in every program, practice, and policy. This includes physical safety, psychological safety, and relational safety.
Connection - “Do I matter?”
Trauma-informed organizations place relational connection at the center of every program, practice, and policy as well as every interaction with clients, staff, and volunteers. This ensures the attunement, trustworthiness, and cultural competence are actively demonstrated.
Support - “Am I Capable?”
Trauma-informed organizations utilize proactive and responsive supports when working with clients, staff, and volunteers. The goal is to ensure opportunities for empowerment, choice, and collaboration. This kind of support is evident in every program, practice, and policy.
The Principles
Our proprietary approach to care provides a trauma-informed, holistic, and relationally-centered foundation and guides all that we do. We seek to help vulnerable children overcome trauma and position them to thrive in home, school, and community life. Whole Child Initiative operates through four core principles:
WHOLE STORY
Children’s needs are best understood and met in the context of their history and the impact it has on their life. Taking into account their full story allows us to respond appropriately.
WHOLE CHILD
Children with a history of trauma have unique physical, emotional, educational, social, and spiritual needs. Each of these must be addressed for healing to begin.
WHOLE TEAM
A collaborative team of caregivers, staff, community professionals, and the child’s family members come together to develop a trauma-responsive plan of care.
WHOLE CAREGIVER
Healthy relationships with children require healthy caregivers. We equip our caregivers with regular training, relevant resources, respite, and ongoing support.
Types of Training
Trauma-Sensitive Care
Full-day on-site training for caregiver support systems, short-term care providers, social workers, and educators. This training emphasizes three powerful hallmarks of care that promote restorative environments for vulnerable children.
Trauma-Responsive Care
This training offers a deeper look at the impact of trauma and attachment, on child development and provides comprehensive trauma-informed approaches to organizations caring for them.
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The Wellness Center
What Is The Wellness Center
The Dr. Hugh Francis, Jr. Wellness Center is a 25,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility located in Hernando, MS, that welcomes all to Palmer Home.
With classrooms, counseling suites, therapy rooms and recreational areas, the Wellness Center provides a space for hope and healing in accordance with our Whole Child Initiative. It also serves a space for community gatherings and events that engage the public without compromising the privacy or security of the children in our care.
Programs
Academic Care
Model-of-care organizations ensure a safe and supportive environment for all involved. This includes clients, staff, and volunteers alike. Felt safety includes all areas and is prioritized in every program, practice, and policy. This includes physical safety, psychological safety, and relational safety.
Clinical Care
Model-of-care organizations place relational connections at the center of every program, practice, policy, and interaction with clients, staff, and volunteers. This ensures that attunement, trustworthiness, and cultural competence are actively demonstrated.
Social Support
Model-of-care organizations utilize proactive and responsive supports when working with clients, staff, and volunteers. The goal is to ensure opportunities for empowerment, choice, and collaboration. This kind of support is evident in every program, practice, and policy.
Wellness Center Tours
Schedule a tour to learn more about how Palmer Home’s Whole Child Initiative seeks to provide hope and healing for the present and future of the children we serve through state-of-the-art care designed to meet the physical, spiritual, emotional, social, and educational needs of each individual we encounter.
About Dr. Hugh Francis, Jr.
Dr. Hugh Francis, Jr. was a faithful friend and servant to Palmer Home for Children since 1968. His personal commitment to the scriptural mandate to care for children led him to Palmer Home and our mission to provide care for every child who needs hope.
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Palmer Home Thrift Stores
Donations
Donors are able to support monetarily or through material donations. For a full description of material donations, download and review the guide below.
Overview
The Palmer Home Thrift Stores act as a resource to the community for gently used items and as a direct way to support Palmer Home. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the greater Mississippi community, Palmer Home Thrift Stores help support the children in our care. All profits from the thrift stores go toward programs that benefit Palmer Home children.
Columbus
Open Monday–Saturday
9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
2608 Main Street
Columbus, MS 39701
(662) 328-7940
Starkville
Open Monday–Saturday
9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
422B Highway 12 West
Starkville, MS 39759
(662) 323-7940
View, download, and order what you need.
Our Brand Hierarchy
Brand Architecture
See the forest through the trees. Palmer Home will use brand architecture to organize internal and external services to make marketing, public awareness, and staff education efforts clear and efficient to implement.
Definitions
Palmer Home should be considered a “branded house.” A branded house structure is most common when a parent brand has well-defined brand equity and offerings tightly related to how audiences consume services and programs underneath it. The structure of the brand names and identity design of the sub-brands are usually a derivative of the parent brand making its messaging, and appearance feel and sound distinctly familiar. Brand architecture defines the role and ranking of brands within an organization, acting as a guideline for the relationship between the services or groups. While this structure is over-arching, it allows each brand within the system to be stronger on its merit due to consistent evaluations and presentations. When thinking about adding, subtracting, expanding, or minimizing new and existing services, it is crucial to understand where they will rest within the Palmer Home architecture. This is important because new and established brands must understand the audience journey and how their brand promise and value proposition are perceived.
Brand Family
The following brand architecture levels should serve as a guide when labeling both existing and future services, initiatives, or groups at Palmer Home.
Definitions
Parent: The over-arching organization that has aligned services or brands under it that are extensions of the core offerings. The parent brand is the most universally known among audiences and offers a portal to discover a child or relative.
Child: Endorsed services or groups aided by their association with the parent brand. Child brands are linked as support or service lines of the parent services and do not require individualized visual brand identities. Child brands should be closely associated with the parent in all practical efforts and visual identities.
Relative: The secondary service or groups capable of having distinct voices and personalities. This brand can message and target a specific market or audience as the headliner; however, it still requires the presence of the parent for brand equity and recognition in a supportive tone. Relative brands may have distinct color palettes and visual identities.
Brand Criteria
The following questions should be asked of each existing and future service, initiative, or group at Palmer Home in order to determine their place in the brand architecture.
Considerations
Relationships: How does a brand connect with others in the family? Does it share audiences, services, or strategies? Does a service need to be considered as a brand in the architecture, or is it more of a description of the parent brand?
Exclusivity: Can the brand be clear, repeatable, and memorable on its own without the parent as a headliner? This includes offerings, messaging, and visuals.
Explanations: The broader a brand’s offerings and audience are, its position is defined under a parent, making it more difficult to build equity. Although thematic and mission-oriented goals can cross over, it is essential to be sure a brand has enough of a defined purpose to exist on its merit as either a child or relative.
Inside vs. Outside: When determining placement in the architecture, remember that the way brands are organized is intended for public explanations and marketing efforts. The structure does not always reflect the organization’s business operations or services themselves.
