Anyone who knows me knows that I have a heart for foster children. My husband and I have served as foster parents and with each child we have become more aware of how traumatic the situation is for children. The good news is that we are on the brink of something amazing in our community to help change the way foster care begins!
I recently had the honor of gifting my services as the event photographer for the Isaiah 117 House Luncheon and Dinner. If you have never heard of the Isaiah 117 House and are not familiar with their mission then let me tell you a little about them.
Isaiah 117 House is a nonprofit that helps communities build houses to serve foster children. It is not a long term home but a home that is available on a very difficult day for children who come into state custody. This difficult day is known as “removal day”.
Removal day is the day that children are removed from an environment that has been deemed unsafe. Through the eyes of a child, removal day is the day they lose their parent or parents, their home, their pets, and sometimes their siblings, school, and teachers.
In most places without an Isaiah 117 House those children are taken to a state office without amenities like beds, bathtubs, or showers to wait while paperwork is done and a social worker tries to locate a foster home for the child. This can be hours or sometimes days and even result in kids sleeping on the floor of the office of Children’s Services.
In counties serviced by an Isaiah 117 House the children and the social worker can go to the house and get support from volunteers at the home. The Isaiah 117 House is a real home with an office for the social worker, bedrooms, a kitchen, toys, a play area, and loving volunteers waiting to help make removal day a little less traumatic. The Isaiah 117 House is stocked with clothes, hygiene items, backpacks, diapers, wipes, and everything else a child coming into care might need! The mission of the Isaiah 117 House is to lavishly love on the children that come through the home.
We are building a home in Trenton, TN to serve Gibson, Crockett, and Dyer counties and this fundraising event was another opportunity to share the story, receive donations, and bring the community together in this endeavor.
For more information, or to donate you can follow the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/isaiah117housegibsontn or click the logo below!
