Making Lives Whole
Palmer Home for Children is a faith-based organization that provides a family and community to children in need regardless of race, gender or background.
Palmer Home’s Approach to Care
Palmer Home provides superior care for children while introducing the love of God through our service to each individual child. Palmer Home ensures restorative environments where children feel safe, connected and supported. Whether on campus or off, each child served by Palmer Home has a safe place to call home with trustworthy, supportive adults to guide them as they grow and develop into all that God created them to be. Palmer Home provides holistic care to each child based on their unique physical, emotional, spiritual and educational needs.
Whole Child Initiative
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 does this through our 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 insightfully respond to the effects of early life adversity.
Whole Child
Children with a history of trauma have unique physical, emotional, social, educational and spiritual needs. Each of these must be addressed for the healing process 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.
Leading By Example
Each member of the Palmer Home family plays a vital role in ensuring each child’s needs are met. Our staff and volunteers receive Whole Child Initiative training.
Meet Our Family
President And CEO
Drake Bassett, President and CEO of Palmer Home for Children, joined our family in 2012. For more than 20 years, he has worked with organizations to improve performance and achieve goals. In addition to his experience as CEO, he has held leadership roles as Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Human Resources at Nielsen Corporation. Drake thrives on building great relationships with staff, community, and clients. In his time at Palmer Home, Drake has launched a number of innovative programs, and he is constantly evaluating how we can better rescue and restore the lives of vulnerable children. Drake has been married to his wife, Kelley, for 32 years. They have four children and four grandchildren.
SVP, Engagement
Sarah Hollis joined the Palmer Home team in 2015 and serves as Senior Vice President of Engagement overseeing development, marketing, and community outreach efforts. She previously worked in health care marketing with Baptist Memorial Health Care and higher education fundraising at the University of Mississippi. She holds degrees in public relations from the University of Alabama and a master’s in journalism from Ole Miss. Sarah has a heart for foster care and adoption, which drew her to Palmer Home’s mission of serving children. Sarah and her husband Jeffrey live in Oxford, Mississippi, and have two sons, Hayes and Sloan.
VP, Children's Services
Anna Brooke Warren joined the Palmer Home team in 2018 and serves as the Vice President of Children’s Services overseeing the day-to-day operations within Palmer Home’s four service lines: Campus Care, Family Care, Foster Care, and Transitional Care. She holds a Bachelors degree of Social Work from the University of Mississippi and a Masters degree of Social Work from the University of Southern Mississippi. She is licensed by the Mississippi Board of Examiners for Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists. Anna Brooke has been in the social work field for 15 years, primarily serving in the area of child welfare. Anna Brooke says, “I joined Palmer Home due to a strong conviction to utilize my education and experience to serve children and families through a Christ-centered organization.”
VP, Expansion
Director of Human Services
VP, Development
VP, Marketing and Communications
Director of Campus Care
Director of Family Care
Director of Foster Care
Board Members
Board Members
Alan Walters
Chairman
First Commercial Bank
Jackson, MS
Trip Hairston
Vice Chairman
Nephrology Associates, PC
Columbus, MS
Ernest Gray Flora, III
Treasurer
BankFirst Financial Services
Columbus, MS
Jim Walker
Secretary
4Memphis Magazine
Germantown, TN
Dolph Bryan
Retired Law Enforcement
Starkville, MS
Karen Carlisle
Carlisle Corporation
Memphis, TN
Harold Clark
Clark Beverage Group
Starkville, MS
Robert H. Clark
Clark Beverage Group
Starkville, MS
Kirby Dobbs Floyd
Dobbs Management Services
Memphis, TN
Melinda George
IMC Companies, LLC
Memphis, TN
Dr. Daryl Guest
Starkville Surgical Associates
Starkville, MS
Dr. Andrew Martin
Martin Oral & Facial Surgery
Starkville, MS
Tom McCann
Retired USAF Pilot
Peachtree, GA
Richard L. Powell
Harris, Madden & Powell Insurance
Memphis, TN
Dr. John Russell
Russell Orthodontics
Columbus, MS
Larry Edwards
Real Estate Development
Jackson, MS
Board Emeritus
Board Emeritus
Charles Berry
Columbus, MS
Dr. Robert R. Black
Tupelo, MS
Jack Forbus
Starkville, MS
Charles Guest
Starkville, MS
Dewitt Hicks
Columbus, MS
Rev. Thomas Kay, Jr.
Aliceville, AL
Charles McElroy
Starkville, MS
Everett C. Owens III
Aliceville, AL
Jon Reeves
Olive Branch, MS
Donald Sanders
Aliceville, AL
Lee Tyner
Oxford, MS