About Us
Putalamus White
Putalamus White, Founder and CEO of the Jackson Resource Center, is a highly gifted, creative, and enthusiastic graphic artist, business developer and homeless advocate from Jackson, Mississippi. Putalamus graduated from Provine High School in Jackson, Mississippi, June 1992. There she held various leadership positions which included founding a peer-to-peer mentoring organization known as “Reality: 1 on 1”.
While in attendance at Provine, Putalamus attended the Career Development Center during her sophomore and junior years and received her Certificate of Completion, which was then equivalent to an Associate Degree in Business Administration and Accounting. October 8, 1989, the day after she turned sixteen, Putalamus began working part time after school and on weekends at Sonic Drive-In. Before the anniversary of her first year on the job, she was promoted to Assistant Manager in the location she worked. In this position she was responsible for payroll, employee scheduling, daily and monthly inventory, creating reports and assisting in opening new stores. She was also responsible for training new employees and encouraging employee morale, and yes, she was still in high school, maintaining a “B+” average.
After graduating from Provine High School, Putalamus moved to Atlanta, GA to continue her career as a trainer for Sonic Drive-In. She stayed there for one year and returned to Mississippi in September 1993. January 1994, she gave birth to a happy, healthy baby girl - Destini. When her daughter turned six weeks, Putalamus began working temporary jobs which led to a permanent position at Blue Cross Blue Shield: Advance Health Systems as the Department Assistant in June 1995. While working there, Putalamus was responsible for the accounts payable/receivables, weekly and monthly invoicing as well as ordering supplies for the department. Other responsibilities included assisting new clients with purchasing computer equipment and assisting current clients with purchasing upgrades. This was her position until health issues caused her to take a leave of absence which ended in resignation from BCBS.
Putalamus sought other employment and found it as the Office Manager for the state of Mississippi MDOT - State Aid Road Construction. She began this journey February 1998 and her first order of business was to transform a disorganized, inefficient file room into a smooth-running operation totally redesigned in layout and filing system. Doing this saved the division thousands of dollars in hiring temporary employees to assist in filing. Her responsibilities included overseeing file clerks, purchasing of office supplies and total organization of the entire department. Putalamus assisted the department CFO with departmental accounting and bookkeeping along with being responsible for the incoming and outgoing mail and maintenance of all office equipment. She also oversaw the file setup of all new State Aid projects to ensure every necessary document had been signed and filed.
The program Putalamus founded at Provine High School, “Reality: 1 on 1”, became a 501(c)(3) in 2000 where her role was the Drug/Violence Free Youth Director. Putalamus did this part time while working for the state of Mississippi. She directed the fundraising and successfully wrote various small local and state grants. She worked to set up youth activities in schools, as well as, set up opportunities for collaboration between businesses and students. Putalamus implemented community mentoring and tutoring programs for students. With this organization she worked in managing, budgeting, and soliciting for varies projects and programs.
Her passion grew for assisting the community so much so that she resigned from her position at State Aid Road Construction one year after having her second child – Faith, in 2000. Because, Putalamus still needed an income, she took a hobby and established a business called Hiz Creativeness which was later renamed Vizionz Unlimited. Vizionz Unlimited is a business that focuses on commercial graphic and web design, promotional products/printing, marketing and advertising. Her clients have asked for her advice and expertise in creating commercials, merchandise design, ministry videography, music mixing mastery, marketing (flyers, business cards, etc.), website development and much more. These asks led Putalamus to extending the business services to include a full-service audio and video recording studio which has just branched off again to incorporate Podcasting services.
Along with Vizionz Unlimited, Putalamus is the founder pastor of a true “church without walls” in Jackson known as The Healing Place. She has had the opportunity to network with local churches, ministries, and other local organizations to raise funds and awareness of the needs of the local homeless population. This church met every Sunday for eight years in a local park (Poindexter Park) until the COVID-19 Pandemic. While the services were on hold, God began manifesting another the next phase of ministry through Putalamus. A 501(c)(3) organization known as the Jackson Resource Center. The Healing Place Church and Jackson Resource Center have been recognized by the City of Jackson Mayor’s Office and City Council with a Resolution for “Exemplary Work With The Homeless Population” October 2017 and Putalamus was recognized for “Outstanding Community Service” in January 2019 by Families First For Mississippi. Today, The Jackson Resource Center has opened Jackson’s 1st Permanent Supportive Housing Campus (February 2022) which gives a dorm style home to 30 chronically homeless individuals. JRC has also opened a 7 bedroom 7 and ½ bath home for young pregnant mothers ages 16 to 22. This home is Mississippi's 1st Maternity Home and it will allow these young mothers to build a strong foundation that they otherwise may not have had. The current project is the development of an 18-acre all-inclusive campus that will offer every area of support service, housing, and medical.
In her spare time, Putalamus also assists with a local radio show – on – air & behind the scenes. She enjoys advising and steering aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners in the right direction. She is the proud mother of two daughters, Destini and Faith and grandmother to two grandsons, Jordan DeVon and DeMari MaKai (respectively).