After a year in operation, Isaiah 117 House of Williamson County’s location leader Tara Thornton said she is full of gratitude.
“We are just blown away by the generosity of the community and the Lord providing through the people of our area,” she said. “This house has not lacked; not one day have we lacked because of a need.”
The Isaiah 117 House of Williamson County opened its doors September 6, 2025, and since then, Ms. Thornton said the house has served 232 children who were all entering the foster care system. Additionally, the house has served another 119 kids by providing resources to those who may have gone straight into foster home placement. This August, the house helped 31 children, with volunteers contributing 203 hours of service, according to the nonprofit.
“It’s been astounding,” she said during the house’s one year anniversary celebration on September 13. “Like how much we’ve been able to do. We just had no idea a year ago how many people would come through these doors, and just the stories. It’s just been amazing.”
Named after Isaiah 1:17 in the Old Testament, the Tennessee-based nonprofit provides a temporary home for children waiting to be placed with foster families. Construction on the Williamson County location began in November 2024. It opened as the 34th house in the nation and the seventh in Texas. The organization has expanded in the past year, with 63 total locations.
The organization’s birthday party last week included complimentary ice-cold lemonade, iced tea and snow cones, an opportunity for guests to have tours and mingle, an inflatable bounce house and an inflatable slip-and-slide.
Serving almost one child a day, the staff and volunteers have gathered plenty of experience and stories.
One volunteer recounted that children from Crestview Baptist Church raised money to help the Isaiah 117 House. During the church’s two-week kids’ summer camp, the kids would bring their pocket change to raise money for the house to buy Crocs for its guests. By the end of camp, the kids had raised more than $5,600.
Ms. Thornton recalled a girl who set the whole table like a fancy family dinner, and she wanted to cook the meal for the caseworkers and the volunteers.
“It just allowed her [to have] family moments during a rough weekend, and so that was beautiful,” she said. “It’s kind of like going to your grandma’s house, where you know shes just gonna sit and listen. I think that’s the goal of the experience that kids have here is that they just kind of feel that comfort and that care and that undivided attention. So seeing that change a kid’s countenance while they’re here, it’s been beautiful.”
Over the course of the year, Ms. Thornton said, people supplied the house by shopping for clothing and food and dropping off the items. People give money. Some have prayed over the house and its mission. The house has worked closely with caseworkers with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and foster families.
“We have people that volunteer many, many hours late at night,” Ms. Thornton said. “We have worked so closely with caseworkers and with the department that we’re so grateful for because we’ve gotten to know them over the months and the year. The kids we serve, it’s an honor to get to be there with them on a hard day. We just get to be these vessels of generosity and love because the Lord and community give.”
Ms. Thornton said the word “trust” would best describe how the year went.
“You have to trust the Lord to provide. Trust Him for the volunteers to sign up on call with you, and then we cannot be here 24/7,” she said. “This whole Isaiah House thing is just a faith journey.
“We just want to ensure how this can leave an impact on our community in 10 years,” she said, looking to the future. “So how can we make sure that what we do is sustainable and caring well for the volunteers and the kids and the caseworkers and just how can we be a place that has a lasting impact?”
For more information, visit https://linktr.ee/isaiah117housewilliamsoncotx.