Historic Palmer Home will have new residents, same mission

The Lindawood building of the Palmer Home, as shown on Thursday in Columbus. Palmer Home was established in 1895 and served as a home for children in need for more than 120 years. Tom Green, the operations manager for the Columbus Community Housing Development Organization, said the home will continue the same mission of loving and helping others, but now it will help the elderly instead of children. Photo by: Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff

A bell hangs next to the entrance of the Love Cottage on Thursday at the Palmer Home in Columbus. The children in the Palmer Home’s residential program moved to the Hernando campus in June 2019 and the 110-acre campus has been empty ever since. The Columbus Housing Authority purchased the home in March 2020 and hopes to have residents moving into the group home sometime between October 2020 and March 2021. Photo by: Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff

The common area of the Buchanan Cottage, as shown on Thursday at the Palmer Home in Columbus. The cottages were added to the Palmer Home in the late 1960s and 70s for children to live in. The residential group home will have eight residents in each of its six cottages. Each cottage has a common area, kitchen, meeting room, bedrooms and bathrooms. Photo by: Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff

A piano sits in the common area of the Brotherhood Cottage on Thursday at the Palmer Home in Columbus. Debra Taylor, the executive director of the Columbus Housing Authority, said each cottage will be provided a piano. “The elderly thrive off of music,” Taylor said. Photo by: Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff

A kitchen in the Buchanan Cottage, as shown on Thursday at the Palmer Home in Columbus. Residents of the group home will be provided three meals a day as part of their meal plan. Photo by: Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff

Chairs line up along a table in the Brotherhood Cottage on Thursday at the Palmer Home in Columbus. Debra Taylor, the executive director of the Columbus Housing Authority, said each cottage will have eight dining chairs, one for each resident, because eating around the table together is a big part of socialization for the elderly. Photo by: Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff

A pavilion, playground and basketball court are surrounded by resident cottages on Thursday at the Palmer Home in Columbus. Tom Green, the operations manager for the Columbus Community Housing Development Organization, said the playground will be great for when grandchildren come to visit residents. Photo by: Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff

Flowers bloom on the Palmer Home campus on Thursday in Columbus. “There’s so much peace and serenity out here,” said Debra Taylor, the executive director of the Columbus Housing Authority. Taylor said she thought about using the campus for another children’s home, but she saw more need in the elderly community. Taylor conducted a survey and determined that 300 people in Columbus will be eligible to live in the residential group home. Photo by: Claire Hassler/Dispatch Staff