Human face of homelessness

At age 81, Jean Palmer is a frequent presence at volunteer events focused on Santa Fe’s homeless residents

While preparing lunch together at the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place every Wednesday, Ann Alexander was always impressed by Jean Palmer’s ability to connect with the guests they served.

Alexander was more reticent, but she said Palmer “always made friends” with the people staying at the homeless shelter.

Since the Interfaith Community Shelter’s lease with the city of Santa Fe was terminated over the summer, the group has switched over to cooking weekly meals at Casa Familia, a homeless shelter in Santa Fe serving women and families.

At 81, Palmer is a frequent presence at volunteer and advocacy events focused on the city’s homeless residents. It’s those efforts that led Alexander to nominate her for The New Mexican’s 10 Who Made a Difference awards for 2025 — an honor Palmer earned.

“I think if everyone acted the way she does, we would be in a better situation,” Alexander said.

Palmer and Alexander are both members of the Santa Fe Housing for All Collaborative, formerly known as S3, where Palmer is part of the community education subcommittee.

It’s a position that suits her well. A native of Moscow, Idaho, Palmer has a master’s degree in higher education and worked as a teacher and an assistant dean of students before founding her own training company, which took her across the country and the world speaking to corporations, governments and nonprofits for 35 years.

Palmer and her husband — George Palmer, a

recipient of one of last year’s 10 Who Made a Difference awards through his involvement in the cleanup group the Trash Pandas — have lived in Illinois, Iowa and the Washington, D.C. area, where they fostered a series of children after becoming empty nesters. When the couple moved to Santa Fe in 2010 to be closer to one of their adult children, Palmer decided to close her business and direct her talents toward volunteer initiatives.

She started by founding Women’s Connection in 2010, a group for women 50 and older that now has about 100 members who come together for educational and social events.

What motivated her to get more involved with helping the homeless was speaking with her next-door neighbors Phil and Linda Hardberger, who live in Santa Fe part time.

A former mayor of San Antonio, Texas, Phil Hardberger helped launch “Haven for Hope,” a wraparound homeless services campus that has gained national attention for its success at helping transition people from the streets into housing and jobs through a comprehensive program.

Palmer said she was inspired to explore the potential for a homelessness campus similar to

Haven for Hope in Santa Fe and helped found a steering committee of interested volunteers for a project they have described as “Santa Fe’s Haven.”

The group is now exploring partnering with the Interfaith Community Shelter on plans for building a resource opportunity center in Santa Fe in a purpose-built facility now that they are no longer managing Pete’s Place, Palmer said.

Palmer has taken the Hardbergers to speak about Haven for Hope in front of numerous local civic groups. Phil Hardberger said The New Mexican “couldn’t have made a better selection” for the award than Palmer and praised her passion for the homeless.

“She’s just one of those unsung heroes that really makes you feel glad that you’re in the same world with people like her,” he said.

As part of her work on Santa Fe Housing for All’s education committee, Palmer also helps organize regular panels on what it’s like to be homeless. Panelists — Santa Feans with lived experience of homelessness who volunteer to share their stories — receive coaching on public speaking from Palmer.

Since 2022, a rotating group of panelists have presented more than 25 times. Palmer described it as some of the most rewarding volunteer work she’s ever been a part of.

“There are often tears in the eyes of the people who are in the audience,” she said.

She said the ability to share their stories gives panelists more confidence and allows the audience to understand homelessness on a deeper level, adding she considers many of the regular panelists friends.

“Sometimes I might be helping them, but they’re also helping me,” Palmer said.

Ericka Kidd, program manager at affordable housing complex Santa Fe Suites, said the panels are pivotal in helping people realize homeless people “are actually people.”

“It decreases the otherness and assumptions” that people make about the homeless, she said.

Kidd said Jean and George Palmer are regular helpers with the annual volunteer-cooked Thanksgiving dinner served at Santa Fe Suites for residents and people in the homeless community, bringing “five or six turkeys” to serve guests.

A participant in the Zia Singers and “Raging Grannies” music groups, Kidd said the Raging Grannies have performed at Santa Fe Suites and that Palmer has also purchased tickets for lived-experience panelists and others with less resources to attend concerts they otherwise wouldn’t be able to go to.

More than anything, Kidd said it’s Palmer’s “pure heart” that makes her stand out: “She sees people for who they are.”