It's hard to imagine the confusion, shock, and pain a child goes through when one day, all of a sudden, their world comes crashing down as authorities from the government remove them from their family.
It's a situation that's often traumatic for foster children. Worse, many of those children go through that trauma and then spend hours, days, weeks, or even months waiting for someone to take them in.
That's the reality facing many foster children. According to the Dallas Morning News, some 220 foster children recently spent at least two consecutive nights sleeping on cots in governmental buildings, in hotels, or on mattresses in makeshift facilities as they awaited foster placement. The state of Texas has 14,000 children in foster care, but only 7,500 licensed foster families, which can lead to long intervals for foster children between being taken by the government and being placed in foster care.
Isaiah 117 House Dallas County, Texas is working to help those children. It's a newly formed local chapter of the national organization, which has presences across eight states. Its name comes from the Bible verse Isaiah 1:17, which says to "defend the cause of the fatherless." Spave is proud to spotlight Isaiah 117 House Dallas County, Texas as one of our featured nonprofit partners.
Although never taking custody, Isaiah 117 House works with government agencies to make a child's transition from their home to a foster situation as comfortable as possible. The organization provides children taken from their homes awaiting foster placement with a temporary home and everything they may need. Each Isaiah 117 House location also has office space from which social workers can work to find children a home, while Isaiah 117 volunteers care for the children.
Isaiah 117 House also works to make the process easier on foster families. The organization provides foster families with necessary things for children awaiting foster placement, such as car seats, clothes, and school supplies. Essentially, Isaiah 117 House provides future foster families or kinship placement with anything they may need in order to make it easier for them to accommodate a foster child.
"There's a foster care crisis — not just in Texas, it's everywhere," said Lauren Schaefer, an expansion coordinator for Isaiah 117 House Dallas County, Texas. "These kids have nowhere to go, and they've done nothing wrong.
"Isaiah 117 House makes sure these kids feel loved and supported on one of their hardest days. What we do can be done and duplicated anywhere."
Isaiah 117 House Dallas County, Texas is holding its "Let's Build This House" luncheon and dinner on Thursday, April 28. Lunch is at 11:30 a.m. and dinner is at 6 p.m. If you'd like to attend, simply RSVP at the following email address: dallastx@isaiah117house.com.
At Spave, we are honored to support Isaiah 117 House Dallas County, Texas in its mission to help children awaiting foster care placement. Isaiah 117 House is working to build even more support for impacted children, and together we are working to expand Isaiah 117 House's reach, increase its sponsorship, and help it impact even more lives. We invite you to join us in supporting Isaiah 117 House Dallas County, Texas through the Spave app today!