Haley Palmer was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia and worked in the hospitality industry before coming to Athens in 2018 to go into treatment for substance abuse recovery. After entering into recovery, and in light of the help she received along the way, Haley decided to give back to the community by working in homeless services at Advantage Behavioral Health Systems. Haley is a Certified Peer Specialist in Mental Heath and a Forensic Peer Mentor; she was also recently selected to attend the C.A.R.E.S. 50 Academy through the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse. She worked for almost a year as a Team Lead at the Homeless Day Service Center until recently becoming a Recovery Coach in the Peers in Recovery from Opioid Use Disorder (PROUD) program. Haley is also the Chief Financial Officer of the Julia Anne Moss Recovery Community Cooperative, a nonprofit that helps people suffering from substance abuse disorders get into recovery as well as helping people overcome barriers to getting and staying in recovery. Haley lives on the Eastside of Athens with her son, Eli and fiancé, Michael, dog Muddy and cats Nuisance and Big Head.

 

 

 

 

 

What do you love most about your job?

 

I just love seeing the light come back into people. The majority of the time when I am working with peers, their life has been so dark and they have been so hopeless so to be able to walk alongside them as they pull themselves out of that darkness and start stepping into the light and regaining hope, I would have to say that is my favorite thing about it, to be able to see that transformation right before my own eyes. It is just the sheer willingness and determination that the peers seek to find within themselves because it is definitely a self journey. It is all about the inner self and healing. When they become willing to take those steps and the light switch flips on and it is like: here it goes.

 

When you are not working, what do you like to do in Athens?

 

I am a homebody. If I am not doing something within my recovery community, whether it is attending different fellowships or meetings or something like that, a lot of times I am at home hanging out with my animals and my kid (when he feels like he is not too cool for me). We like to spend a lot of time outdoors though. We like to go out to Sandy Creek, my boys (my fiance and my son) love to play disc golf. I am no good at it but I like to watch them play. Most of the time it is just me sitting at home, tending to my family. If I’m out, my favorite thing to do is put up my hammock and read a good book; that is where I am at my peace.

 

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

 

I have always dreamt of going to Africa. I grew up in a church setting where a lot of the older kids were always going out there to do mission trips and stuff like that. Just the stories and the people that they would meet when they were there was just something that really caught my attention. I don’t know if I would really necessarily want to go out on a mission trip or anything like that, but I just know I have always wanted to go and explore the safari there, see the animals and witness it for myself firsthand.

 

What advice would you give your younger self?

 

I would have to say: forgive yourself. I made a lot of really poor choices from a very young age. I think my advice to myself would be to forgive myself and allow myself to forgive others because while I was busy making other poor choices, there were people trying to make choices for me which caused even more trauma in my life. Not only was I making poor choices for myself, people were making poor choices for me. I became traumatized by the experience and I became angry and resentful. If I would have known what it felt like to forgive and let go, I probably could have found freedom a lot sooner. What I found is that it took what it took, and I am here today and I know that is what it took today. So, that is what I would tell my younger self.

 

Do you have a favorite movie?

 

Well, it is probably between two movies Forrest Gump and Mrs. Doubtfire. Those movies are what rocked my childhood. It doesn’t matter, even today, I could still just watch them on repeat. But, there was something about Forrest Gump that just captivated me and still to this day when I am watching it; he just kept running! You know, like no matter what he just kept going. And, sometimes when life is just still coming at me really strong, I think about Forrest Gump. He just kept running and that motivates me to keep going.

 

Do you have a favorite book, or a book you refer to most often or gift?

 

The Giving Tree by Shel Siilverstein. I have a tattoo of it on my arm. My mom read that book to me a lot when I was little. She read that one and a few other ones, but that one always stuck out to me about how the tree would just keep giving and eventually it allowed the little boy to flourish and have a family even though the tree became nothing but a stump. It just kept giving and giving and giving to the little boy and it is like the cycle of love of the world where we give and give and give until it is no longer our turn anymore and then he gets to continue.

 

If you could put any message on a billboard, what would you put?

 

Slow Down. Not just for drivers but because life literally passes by so fast. I thought the fast life was really what life was supposed to be about for so long that now that I have gotten older and stepped into recovery I realize that it is important to slow down and be grateful for that moment that you are a part of, regardless of whether it feels good or if it doesn’t because a lot of times when things don’t feel good we want to hurry up and find a solution to make it feel better. I have learned to just be grateful for the feelings that don’t feel good and learn how to persevere and handle them appropriately.

 

What is something interesting about you that most people might not know?

 

In middle school, I tried out for cheerleading but I don’t think I was very graceful so they didn’t put me on the cheerleading team, but they nominated me to be our panther, the school mascot. So, I got to dance around in a big panther costume at all of our games in middle school.

 

If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and where?

 

It would have to be my dad and probably at Rhinehart’s, it is a little seafood place in Augusta. My dad passed away in December of 2020 so he got to see his daughter live a good wholesome life for about a year. I just have so much to tell him, you know? I would just like to spend that time catching up with him.

 

What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word “home?”

 

I think about safety when I think about home and love, like togetherness, and Michael, that is my fiancee. He is just my biggest cheerleader and he has been beside me through this whole thing, through the struggle and where we are at today, him and my son, Eli; they are my home.