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The Isaiah117 House held a ribbon cutting for its Hamblen County location on Tuesday evening.

Members of the community gathered to celebrate this momentous occasion for Isaiah117 House as the Hamblen County project has been underway for two years.

This new location celebration came as an emotional achievement for many who were involved in its process. Program Coordinator Jessica Lyle spoke on the journey this project has been and how grateful they are to the community for their help,

“Thank you all for being here, it’s surreal to be standing up here right now. It doesn’t seem like that long ago but it was two years ago today, right over there at Arrowhead church, that we had our kickoff and our official introduction into the community. It has been amazing to see God work and all of the people that God has brought to this ministry to make it a reality and I just want to say thank you to each and every person who has given of their time and money and prayers. We couldn’t have done this without you. Now we get to start living out the mission of changing how foster care begins for the kids of Hamblen County.” Lyle said.

Wendy Forster of the Department of Human Services was also present for the celebration. Forster also expressed her gratitude and spoke on the impact that programs like these can have on children entering the foster system.

“Today I’m here to thank you all for walking along side of us and for meeting children on what can arguably be their hardest day, and on what can arguably be the hardest day for the case workers as well. It took all of us, it took you bringing your talents, your time, your energy and your prayers. I’m very thankful for a community of compassion who has walked along side of us on this journey.”

Beau Austin of AC DC Construction also took a moment to speak on how he and his company came to be the contractors responsible for building the new house,

“My wife started going to meetings that Jessica was having as the community started wrapping their minds around this idea, she ended up going out and selling lemonade and t-shirts with the girls just to raise awareness and start the fundraising, that was the initial part of it.

“At that point I didn’t really know what Isaiah House was, I pretty much knew it involved children and that was all it took for us. I reached out to her (Jessica) and we had a short conversation and we knew by the end of that conversation that we were going to be the contractors.”

Committing to the project was just the first step, then the real work began. Austin continued,

“At that point we still didn’t know what that looked like. We didn’t have any land and we didn’t have a house. We didn’t really have anything to start with. It’s amazing how God works for us, within about 2-3 weeks of that conversation, we had three churches step up, First Baptist church, Arrowhead church and The Avenue, and we were able to purchase the piece of property that you’re standing on.

“Our next phone calls were out to people in the industry to start the begging process as I call it, one of my first phone calls was to David Wild. Thanks to him and all my contributors and all the suppliers and sub-contractors, family, friends, churches and organizations that got involved. We are so proud to be here.” Austin said.

At the end of the ceremony Lyle was presented with a $15,000 check from First Baptist Church of Morristown to go towards any additional expenses the Hamblen County Isaiah117 House might have during these final stages of opening its doors.

When it comes to the overall impact this new location will have on the Hamblen County community, Isaiah117 House Founder and Executive Director Rhonda Paulson summed it up.

“This home will absolutely change the way foster care begins, we’ve seen it, we’ve lived it.” Paulson said.