Palmetto Place Children and Youth Services

It is the mission of Palmetto Place to provide a safe and supportive environment for children and teens who have faced abuse, abandonment, neglect and/or homelessness.

For more than 40 years, Palmetto Place has been a home for kids and teens who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. We welcome these kids into our home with open arms and loving hearts. Over the years, more than 7,500 children and teens have called our house their home and refer to Palmetto Place as their family. Since our inception in 1977, we have been a safe haven and home for more than 7,500 children in foster care. Since 2012, we have provided a safe and nurturing home preparing more than 450 homeless youth for independence and self sustainability. In 2018, we added the Aftercare Program to our Unaccompanied Youth Program, providing a continuum of care for 12 months after residents become independent. It's imperative to carry on the supportive, positive adult relationship for our residents. In 2019, we added the Pregnant and Parenting Teen Program to our congregate care home and had since served more than 25 teen mothers. In 2021, we increased our scattered-site housing options for unaccompanied youth. In 2022 we plan to continue to expand our scattered-site housing to meet the demands of affordable housing needs for youth. We continue to expand our services to the community and, most notably, the children and youth who need the most support. Housing currently is not affordable, and with the added barrier many of our youth faces, our support is needed more than ever.

Today we have two locations in the Midlands and between our two houses, we have a combined capacity for 30 bed for our youth.

Palmetto Place is more than a shelter, for some of our kids, we're the only home and only family they've ever known. While living with us, they have access to a broad range of services focusing on personal healing and development and include medical attention, mental health care, crisis adjustment and transitional counseling. We help our kids set goals for education and employment, and then make sure they have the resources to reach their goals. Our teens learn the life skills necessary for independence, so when they leave Palmetto Place they can be successful.

Testimonials

In 2024, Palmetto Place served over 180 unduplicated clients in the Midlands. We served clients from 18 Counties in the State and 4 States.

Sixteen-year-old Charlie and his brother came to Palmetto Place in Summer of 2021 after their mother was hospitalized and unable to provide care. Both boys received crisis services to address their immediate needs, including food, clothing, and emotional support. Charlie's family had been without a stable home for several years, most recently moving from out of state and staying in a motel prior to their mother's hospitalization. Palmetto Place worked with Charlie's mother to match her with a partner agency and ensure that she received on-going medical care and the appropriate support to get back on her feet. Charlie's brother was reunified with a safe family member, but they were unable to provide Charlie with long-term support. Charlie transitioned out of Palmetto Place's Emergency Shelter, and into our Unaccompanied Youth Program, allowing him to receive supportive care, shelter, and wrap-around case management until his 21st birthday.

Due to his family's circumstances, Charlie dropped out of school in the 9th grade. With the support of Palmetto Place, he was enrolled in Adult Education services and completed his GED in just two months. He recently began the WIOA program through SC Works and will begin his Internship for Computer Programming in April 2022. Charlie plans to enroll in the Computer Science Program at Midlands Tech in Fall 2022 and wants to begin a career as an IT Specialist.

Through Palmetto Place, Charlie received access to medical, vision, and dental services - receiving a dental exam for the first time in nearly 5 years. He was also enrolled in mental health services, as well as Substance Use education. Charlie recently obtained his permit and is scheduled for Driver's Training in Summer 2022. An actual quote from Connor last year "This is the first time I've felt safe in a long time."