In the Friday, Feb. 9, edition of the Butler Eagle, we learned about a successful fundraiser this week aimed at buying a home to make the transition to foster care easier.

In all, 400 people attended a luncheon and a dinner Thursday for Isaiah 117 House. The group plans to buy a house in Butler and create a space where children who are being placed into foster care can have a safe, welcoming space to stay while that process happens.

Isaiah 117 House was founded in 2017 and takes its name from a biblical verse that says “Defend the cause of the fatherless.”

Rhonda Paulson founded the nonprofit after becoming a foster parent and seeing the conditions children had to wait in after they were removed from their home but before the were placed with a foster family.

Charles Johns, executive director of Butler County Children and Youth Services, spoke at the luncheon and told the audience children who are removed from their homes to be placed in foster care usually have to wait in a government office until the department can find a foster family to care for them.

That adds uncertainty and stress to what is already an extremely hard situation for any children.

“Our agency does the best we can with the resources we have to reduce the trauma of removal for the children,” Johns said. “There is no doubt that the Isaiah 117 House will further reduce trauma for children awaiting home placement.”

Earlier this year, the Eagle reported foster placements have dropped in Butler County, which is always a good sign. The goal of government agencies like Children and Youth Services is to make sure children can stay in their homes, where they are far more likely to thrive.

But there are still situations were parents aren’t able to take care of their children, either temporarily or permanently. And the children going through such situations deserve an environment that eases anxiety during a stressful time.

Isaiah 117 House doesn’t take out a mortgage to buy properties, and the budget for the first year has to be raised before it will open a home.

Abbey Walsh, an expansion coordinator for Isaiah 117 House, said she hopes the new home will open by the summer.

We hope so, too, and we hope the child welfare home is able to make the difficult transition into foster care easier for the young people involved.

— JK