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Executive director continues family tradition

Constance Palmer-Jones is the new executive director of My Home, Your Home, Inc.

Constance Palmer-Jones is executive director of My Home Your Home Inc.
Her leadership of the nonprofit Milwaukee social service agency continues a family tradition of service to foster children and other at-risk people in the community.

Palmer-Jones is one of six children in the family of Irma and Aubrey Walker, who founded My Home Your Home in 1989 as a way of improving the foster-care system. The Walkers had experienced the system first-hand when they opened their home to children needing immediate refuge.

Today, My Home Your Home offers a wide array of services to children, adults and families. It has more than 80 employees and has an annual budget of more than $4 million. The organization is headquartered at 6200 W. Center St. and has an auxiliary office at 1862 W. Fond du Lac Ave.

Irma Walker (left) founded My Home, Your Home, Inc., which is now headed by one of her children, Constance Palmer-Jones.

“When my parents became foster parents, I got used to having other children in our home,” Palmer-Jones recalls. “We would take in children at any hour -- they’d come at midnight, they’d come early in the morning. My siblings and I would go to school, and when we returned at night, there were new children in the house. We would go to bed with children in the house, and by morning, they would be gone.”

“Our family is a very close-knit family, very loving, very giving, so we were comfortable with other kids coming in, knowing we were helping them in some way,” she says.

She recalls being moved by the plights of these children, remembering one who “would hurt himself purposely,” and a child “who had lots of bruises and was just so fragile.”

“I wondered, ‘How could somebody do that?’ especially growing up in the family that I grew up in.”

Most of the foster children did not stay with the Walkers very long, but Palmer-Jones says several stayed for longer periods and are still considered part of the Walker family.

Palmer-Jones succeeded Undraye Howard as executive director of My Home Your Home in late 2006. Howard, who had been executive director for about two years, resigned to join the Milwaukee-based Alliance for Children and Families.

Palmer-Jones says that during the time her parents were building My Home Your Home as an organization, she wanted to be involved, but she did not contemplate leading it someday.

“I wanted to be part of it, but I never thought that I would eventually be the one running the agency,” she says. “But I am excited about it.”

Palmer-Jones’ parents remain active with My Home Your Home. Her mother continues to hold the title of founder/president.

Palmer-Jones previously was My Home Your Home’s associate director and human resource manager, and earlier was the agency’s program/activity director. She has also served on the organization’s board.

She has also held positions as program director at the Lapham Park COA in Milwaukee, the Children and Family Resource Center in Racine, and the Institute for Child and Family Development in Milwaukee.

Palmer-Jones, who has two sons and has been a foster parent,  holds a degree from the Milwaukee campus of Springfield College in human services, with a concentration in criminal justice, and has been accepted into a master’s degree program in management..

She has also received specialized training in community leadership, prenatal care, early childhood development, the care of mental-health clients and the care of children with special health needs.

Palmer-Jones is on the board of directors of Capitol West Academy, a Milwaukee charter school.

She also has been active with the Milwaukee YWCA, including its Little Sisters mentoring program; been a member of the board of 9 to 5; and founded Hands of Direction, an organization of volunteer women supporting the community and each other.

My Home Your Home began offering programs in 1993 and now provides a wide variety of services to hundreds of at-risk children, youth and adults.

Its facilities include Amad’s Place, a stabilization center on West Keefe Avenue for boys between the ages of 12 and 17, and Lissy’s Place, a transitional housing program on West Center Street for women between the ages of 18 and 29.

Other programs and their current caseloads include:

• Treatment Foster Care, providing 50 homes for foster children with special needs;
• Wraparound Care, a court-ordered program serving 67 at-risk families;
• Family Supportive Services, providing in-home services to 65 families, including supervised visitations, mentoring, parent assistance, basic home management, life-skills training and housing assistance; 
• Outpatient Clinic for 30 persons with mental health or addiction problems;
• Access to Recovery, assisting 300 people who have a history of abusing alcohol and other drugs; and Training and Education, a support program for staff, families, children and other organizations. 

Funding for My Home Your Home comes from government agencies, foundations and community donors.