Emily Palmer

Emily may have literally been born for this role.  At her birth, her mother and father were house parents in Amarillo at a facility called Next Steps that helped troubled kids.  Now she is bringing home her own child to a Next Steps house, where she serves as Resident Manager today.

Her entire life has been spent ministering to those in need.  Her parents moved to The Colony when she was very young and took in people for years. Multiple families and missionaries lived at her home; one young woman lived in her bedroom and became another member of the family. A man experiencing homelessness parked his van in their driveway for two years and came inside each day. Her family made a point of always having extra food and necessities on hand, a practice she maintains today.

Because Emily grew up in The Colony and volunteered at a local non-profit organization and her church, she knows many people here.

She graduated from East Texas Baptist University with a degree in Sociology and a minor in Religion. While enrolled in a “Theology of C.S. Lewis” class Emily met Toby.  After graduation, they married and moved to New Orleans so he could obtain his Masters in Theology.

Emily intentionally worked and volunteered with people experiencing homelessness, provided care to the elderly and those in hospice, and worked in childcare.  Her goal was to put her degree and knowledge to work for a variety of people in need.  She also became employed as a Librarian, the Manager of Circulation at New Orleans Baptist theological seminary. At the time, she wondered why God put that on her path, but being a librarian is all about being willing to help literally anyone with anything, and being a Resident Manager is about the same thing.

Delighted to be back in The Colony, Emily is looking forward to a discipleship peer relationship with the adult women in the house.  She has a son, Peter.