GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — At a construction site in Grand Prairie, there’s a door that, on the way in, leads to a house.
But on the way out, it leads to a home.
“A home that is hopefully a better place for them where they will continue to be loved on,” said Meagan Haasbroek, program director for Isaiah 117 House.
Haasbroek was a teacher when, one day, she stumbled upon a non-profit called Isaiah 117 House. Founded in Tennessee, the organization serves kids entering the foster system, who are often leaving behind plenty of baggage.
“Who knows what these kids have seen, what they’ve been told, what they’ve been through,” Haasbroek said. “They may have experienced abuse or neglect.”
When kids leave those kinds of situations, it can sometimes be days before a foster home is found. While they wait, kids often have to sleep on an office floor, in a hotel or in a church, adding further trauma to what’s already a traumatic day.
“I just felt I had to do something,” Haasbroek said. “I couldn’t ignore what was going on in our world anymore.”
Haasbroek left her job as a teacher to help build something new.
After contacting Isaiah 117 House, she partnered together to help open the first house in Texas. Located in Grand Prairie, the house will open in the spring.
It’s a place for kids to live for those few days they’re waiting for a new home.
“We hope that they know that they’re loved and they matter,” Haasbroek said. “Because they do.”
“The amount of kindness they showed me, I was overwhelmed,” said Arizona Henderson, a former guest at one of the other Isaiah 117 locations. “But not in a bad way. I was just happy.”
Happiness is definitely abundant.
One little girl requested to have a party at the house because it’s the one place she knew she could have the happiest birthday.
It’s quite remarkable that a place that’s only home for a few days can offer so much hope for a lifetime.
“Hopefully we’re just planting the seeds in their life and those seeds will be watered and they will bloom into something beautiful later on,” said Haasbroek.
It’s all thanks to a foundation deeply rooted in love.