Jonathan Breeden: [00:00:00] On this week's episode
of The Best of Johnson County Podcast.
My guest is Randa Gay
of the Isaiah 117 house.
And Isaiah 117 house
is a home where children
can go when they've been
put into foster care immediately,
but have not yet gotten placed
with a foster family.
So think about
if the sheriff's
department shows up
and there's a meth lab
or bust and the judge
and all the parents are going
to jail and the kid
has to go somewhere.
Well, without this home,
they end up going to a DSS office
while that social worker tries
to find a place to put them.
But what you'll learn
in this episode is they're
going to build a home in Selma
for these kids to go
to for two hours to two days
where they won't have
to be in a stuffy DSS office.
And they can be
in a loving home with people
that will be trying to help
take care of them while
DSS finds them a more
permanent placement.
I really enjoy doing this.
These people are doing God's work,
so listen in.
Narrator: welcome to another episode of Best of Johnston County, brought to you by Breeden Law Office. [00:01:00] Our host, Jonathan Breeden, an experienced family lawyer with a deep connection to the community, is ready to take you on a journey through the area that he has called home for over 20 years. Whether it's a deep dive into the love locals have for the county or unraveling the complexities of family law, Best of Johnston County presents an authentic slice of this unique community.
Jonathan Breeden: Hello, and welcome to another edition of the Best of Johnston County Podcast.
I'm your host, Jonathan Breeden. And on today's episode, we have Randa Gay from the Isaiah 117 House. This is a home for kids who are going to be transitioning into foster care, but haven't been placed in a foster care home yet, that's going to be built in Selma, North Carolina. I think you will find it fascinating and what they're trying to do and how God is calling them to do this for the children of this county.
But before we get to that, I want you to like, follow and subscribe to this podcast wherever you see it, whether it be Spotify, Apple, iTunes, [00:02:00] YouTube, Tick Tock. LinkedIn, Twitter, any of the best of Johnson County pages, Instagram so that you'll be aware of future episodes of the best Johnson County podcast.
The best Johnson County podcast comes out every single Monday and has now for about 18 months. So we've had a lot of great guests that go back and listen to some of the previous guests and we've got a lot of future great guests coming up. So if you love Johnson County as much as we do, this is the podcast for you.
Welcome Randa.
Randa Gay: Thank you so much for having me. No problem.
Jonathan Breeden: No problem. So, so tell me your name and what you do.
Randa Gay: Got it. My name is Randa Gay and I am born and raised in Johnston County. Have lived here my whole life with my parents and I did grow up in a divorced home and so spent half of my time in Wake County, half in Johnston, just riding that border like most people in our area I feel like are doing nowadays.
I am now the location leader for the Isaiah 117 house in Johnston County. And all that means is that I'm working [00:03:00] really hard to make this house a reality here for our kids. I am a licensed foster parent and have been with Johnston County DSS for three years. Over that time, I've had 21 kids. in and out of my home.
And I've gotten those calls in the middle of the night at two a. m. being like, Hey, we have a sibling set of two at the office. Can you come and pick them up? And it's me loading up any kids that are already in my home going to D. S. S. To pick up these kiddos. And so what the point of the Isaiah 1 17 houses is that we're not going to a D.
S. S. Office to pick up these kids. I tell everybody if you haven't been to a D. S. S. Office Stink. DMV it's gray, it's stark. There's cubicles and it is not kid friendly. uh, There's no toys to play with. There's no kitchens, there's no beds. A lot of times when we're coming to pick up kids as foster parents in the middle of the night they're sleep on the floor.
Because that's what the social worker has to offer. We don't fault the social workers at all. We joke that it's [00:04:00] not their job. They didn't go to school to be caretakers for a sibling set of five while also making really hard decisions and filling out paperwork. And so that's where we come in as a community to care for these kids and actually do the caretaking role.
I say that we get to be the fun aunt and uncles for these kiddos when they come into care on a really hard day. We think a lot of times that it's good. Like it's a good thing for them to be entering foster care and sure, there might be some things that they're getting removed from in their home that are harmful to them or heart, but they're still leaving their mama.
They're still leaving their dad. They're still leaving their pets and their blankets and their things and going to a place where they know nothing. It's a stranger that's sitting there greeting them. It's a stranger that is asking them what they want to eat. And most of the time. at the DSS office.
That's vending machine food. And so at the Isaiah 117 house, there'll be greeted with volunteers, which are [00:05:00] still people that they don't know. And so it will still be a hard day for them. But it'll be way more welcoming. There'll be a couch, there'll be TVs. video games, beds, baths with all the bubbles that they can pick from to have a bath.
And so we just really are building this house to reduce that trauma for these kids on that hard day. Um, And another thing that we do is lighten the load of these social workers. Like I said, it's not necessarily what they went to school for to care for children. And so we're going to take that off of their plate by having Background checked volunteers that will care and love on these kids while the social workers do the hard parts of their job.
And the last thing part of our mission is to ease that transition for foster and kinship families. Again, like I said, I've gotten plenty of calls in the middle of the night to come pick up kids and how much easier it would be if that social worker called me and said, Hey, I've got two kiddos.
They've been at the Isaiah 117 house. They've had dinner, they've had a bath, they're in brand new pajamas, and we've got a bag [00:06:00] packed for them for the next seven days. That would make my guess a lot easier than me to think, Okay, I now have to go pick up a kid, I'm gonna have to stop at McDonald's on the way home to feed them, I'm gonna have to give them a bath as soon as we get home.
So just making it an easier guess Foster parents are slim pickings here in Johnston County. And so sometimes that means two hours to find a placement for kiddos and sometimes that means two days. And so we want to be able to fill in that gap at the Isaiah 117 house.
Jonathan Breeden: Right. and that's, and that's tremendous.
And if anybody follows the news of the number of kids that have been staying in the Wake County PSS offices I think they rectified that a little bit, but within the last. Year or two there would be anywhere from six to nine kids Spending the night in the Wake County DSS offices right there on Swinburne Street and that's not a great situation.
in that scenario. And so, I have been fortunate that I have done this work over the years. I've represented parents in DSS court. [00:07:00] I've worked hand in hand with DSS and the social workers and I know firsthand. What you're walking into because I did those cases where and I got the calls from clients in the middle of the night.
Police are here. DSS is here. They're taking my Children. Where are they going? know exactly what's going on. And and it is kind of an immediate kind of thing. You have meth labs. and hadn't been as many of those. I think of, you know, meth labs, you have murder suicides. You have a drug bust.
You have human trafficking rings. This is all in Johnston County. A lot of people like. All of this is in Johnston County and it's every week. And I think a lot of people don't realize that. And I mean, these kids are, they have to go. And, and, and the other part is, you know, the social worker arrives on the scene and they have to and they're all familiar with the police and they're trying to decide what they're going to do.
And the police are like, well, these people are [00:08:00] going to jail. And the social worker's like, okay, I got to do something with these kids. Because. All the adults are going to jail in this house. And they're going to be put under bond. They're going to be getting out. And you know, and that social worker has to assess the situation immediately.
Is there an immediate family member that can come here and take these kids right now that I can feel remotely decent about at one o'clock in the morning? Sometimes there is, sometimes there isn't. If not, then that social worker has got to fill out the forms and file a petition with the courts. In the middle of the night and they have to call and get it, wake up a district court judge and tell the judge, this is where I'm at with you verbally over the phone, allow us to sign this order to bring this child into the county's custody so we can start the foster care process and the judge wakes up half asleep, whatever.
They answer the question. Sometimes they say yes, sometimes they say no, because maybe it's not quite bad enough, but if they say yes, then that child is in the [00:09:00] custody of the county and the county is responsible for that child. And that's where the Isaiah 117 house is going to come in, because instead of going back to the DSS office at one or two o'clock in the morning when, if they can't get a foster parent on the phone or whatever, they're going to come to your house.
Is that, is that correct?
Randa Gay: Correct. Yes. So instead of going to the D. S. S. Office, we hope that no child ever has to step back into the D. S. S. Office and instead that social worker would come with the child to our home. They would be able to do their job of filling out that mountain of paperwork, making those phone calls.
to foster families and re kinship families sometime so instead of going to si they try to find a kinship they would come sit at th where these kids can be l hard job that they do have. One of my favorite parts of the home is that we do have a separate office for the social worker to go work in. It has plexiglass windows so that the social worker will still have eyes [00:10:00] on the child at all times.
But one of the things that has been really evident to me is that when these Children go to a D. S. S. Office, they're sitting in a cubicle. They're sitting there listening to this social worker called these foster families call these family members and hearing the nose. I had a 17 year old girl that came and stayed with me for a while, and she broke down in tears telling me how many no's she heard before she heard me say, Sure, she can come to my house for the weekend.
I'm not sure what we're going to be able to do next week because I have to go to work and she's not in school. But just to hear those no's over and over again, when these kids aren't in care for anything that they did. And that's one thing that I try to share over and over again is that, The kids did nothing to get to where they are on this really hard day.
It's not their fault. It's not any choices or actions that they did. And so we just want to love them where they are on that day.
Jonathan Breeden: No, and, and that's, and that's tremendous. And, I'm glad you're going to be able to, to do that. And I know the [00:11:00] um, town of Selma has donated some land and you're getting a lot of the materials.
Lee's involved in this donated to build this house. So talk a little bit about the financing and how this house is going to come to be and where it's going to be. and a timeline, if you know, I mean, I know this is all trying to raise money, but you know, and, and the other thing is people listening.
The Isaiah 117 house is a, is a massive organization. It starts in Tennessee in 2014, 2015. They're in 12 states now. This is not a fly by night. This isn't just something you came up with. They have a plan. They have an organization. They have lots of houses around the country. So if you're listening to this.
This is going to happen. It's just a matter of when, and if you get involved now, it'll be even faster for the kids in Johnston County.
Randa Gay: So we are the first home that will be in North Carolina. And so that's pretty cool to say that the first home in North Carolina is gonna be right here in Johnston County.
But we have had amazing support from the county [00:12:00] as a whole from county commissioners to the DSS department and directors to the town of Selma who, like you mentioned, have. donated land to us. We had a kickoff event at broad slab last May. And at that event this man came up and he was like, I want to build this house for you.
And so Harbinger homes has been with us from our very first kickoff event and helping us find donors to help donate their time, their resources and their talents to make this home an actual possibility. And so we've had many contractors donate their time. Many contractors that are donating materials.
And like you mentioned, Guy C. Lee is coming alongside us to do this. But we are a nonprofit organization that has to be completely funded for our first year's budget before we will open our doors. And so we are in the process of raising those funds to actually make this home a reality. We're hoping to break ground in March, and Harbinger [00:13:00] Homes says that they're going to have us a home in 150 days, so let's see if we can hold them to it.
And so with that, it's amazing that they can build us a home that quickly with the amazing Johnson County construction community that's come together. But in order to open the doors, we have to be at 175, 000 in our account. And so we're running towards that number as quickly as we can as they are running towards building this home.
And so there's plenty of ways that people can get involved with the Isaiah 1 17 house, whether that is you own a construction company and think you might have something else to offer to the house. Please reach out to us for that. We have what we call monthly givers and we call them sock buddies because they get a free pair of socks when they sign up to walk this journey with us each month.
And one of the cool things is with the sock buddy is you're not just doing a one time donation and say, okay, I gave to it and I'm done. Like you're monthly walking with us. That means you. Or monthly getting our newsletter from us. You're [00:14:00] knowing where the progress is with this home, what the next steps are, what new needs are that arise.
When we do open our doors and kids are coming in and so just. the reminder that this is a home for the kids in Johnston County, and it is going to be volunteer ran by people in Johnston County and financially supported by people in Johnston County. I think that's the really cool thing for me as someone who's traveled outside of the country and within our country.
Seeing Different needs and different ways that we can help and realizing like, Oh no, this is right here where I'm born and raised. And these are our kids in our county that we need to be loving on.
Have family law questions? Need guidance to navigate legal challenges? The compassionate team at Breeden Law Office is here to help. Visit us at www. breedenfirm. com for practical advice, resources, or to book a consultation. Remember, when life gets messy, you don't have to face it [00:15:00] alone.
Jonathan Breeden: So how big a house is this going to be?
Randa Gay: So it's actually about 3000 square feet. It'll be two bedrooms.
We'll have one bedroom for the girls and one for the boys and two separate bathrooms for them as well as well as a half bath for all of the adults. that will be coming in the house. And then we have what we call the teen room. It's a room and it doesn't have a door on it, but it has like a little mini couch in there and all the video games and all things teenager and just an area that they can kind of get away.
We know that teenagers like that separate space, especially on hard days. We also have a huge living room which will have a big sectional couch in there, big, comfy pillows. blankets for kids to cuddle up and watch a movie fenced in backyard with a big play set. The Rotary Club of Clayton has actually already said that they want to be in charge of the backyard and the play set.
And so we're so grateful for different community organizations that already want to jump in. with that. [00:16:00] And then one of the really cool parts of the Isaiah 1 17 house and the part of the mission that I really jumped on board with is upstairs in our home. We have a humongous giving room. We only accept brand new items for these kiddos because we want to lavishly love them on this hard day.
Sometimes kids are picked up straight from school and so they come with what they had at school that day. Sometimes They come straight from home, but there was so much chaos going on that they didn't have time to pack an actual bag, and they just grabbed the few things that meant the most to them.
And so, we allow kids to go upstairs and pack a bag that will last them for anywhere between 5 to 7 days. And, one of the cool things to me about Isaiah 117 House and these kids is that, The answer is never no from us we tell the social workers they can be the mean guys, but our answer is yes And so if a teenager comes in and they don't like any of our shoes that we have upstairs We're like, okay, what do you want?
And Rhonda [00:17:00] Paulson the founder of Isaiah 117 house jokes all the time that out of all of the homes that are open Teen boy shoes is what we've dropped the most amount of money on because again, we don't say no. And so if these kiddos want the newest Air Jordan, we're calling around all the Nike stores, trying to find them for these kids.
And she jokes a lot that sometimes she feels like the teenagers are trying to test her and see like, do you really mean whatever I can get? And then when they come in, it's. Their smile that lights up being like, Oh, they actually do mean what they say. And so we want to be able to follow through with that and give these brand new items to these kids and just make them feel seen and loved on this hard day.
Jonathan Breeden: Yeah. And so this is not. This is not a, this is not a group home. This is not a this is not therapeutic foster care. This is a triage place for kids while they're coming into care until they can be [00:18:00] placed. So hopefully they're not there more than 24 or 48 hours. How many children do you believe will come through this home?
in a year.
Randa Gay: Within a year, we're thinking somewhere between 150 to 200 children. We'll step foot into the Isaiah one 17 House of Johnston County.
Jonathan Breeden: Okay, so it's going to become like, basically, that's about the number of kids that come into foster care in the year in Johnston County. So, basically, it's almost like every kid who's coming into care will come there for some period of time, anywhere from 2 hours to 2 days is what you're anticipating.
Randa Gay: Yes, and so we tell the department when we first start this, that even if you, before, The judge has even signed paperwork. You have placement already. We would love for them to still come. To the Isaiah one 17 house first, so they can pack that bag that I talked about with all brand new items that we can get anything that the kinship placement or [00:19:00] the foster family might need to help that transition.
We're not there just as the stopping ground. We want to be able to provide support and supplies for these families as well.
Jonathan Breeden: So what does, I know this cause I looked it up, what is the verse Isaiah one 17?
Randa Gay: So Isaiah 117 says to care for the orphans and widows in their time of need. And so that is what we are doing.
We know they might not be actual orphans because they have families, and they have families that love them very much and just might need the support from the community to be able to love their children well. But we are here to help. We're here to care for them. To care for the people who need it the most and who don't have the village around them that a lot of us do,
Jonathan Breeden: right?
So ways people can get involved their, their churches can raise money, I guess, have pancake breakfasts or. barbecues, stuff like that. I know [00:20:00] that I saw that as one way to raise money. I've raised a lot of money for no problem. I've done a lot of different things, but barbecue chicken is a good way to raise some money,
Randa Gay: especially in johnson County.
Yes. So there are so many different ways that churches, groups, even families can get involved. We do hot chocolate stands in the winter, which is a way Yes, to raise money, but it allows Children to help Children. And so we do hot chocolate in the winter and lemonade stands and the summer and just helping get the word out about Isaiah 1 17 house, the need in our community and then also Raise funds for this home.
Another way is for churches to invite us to come share. We have short videos that we can use that churches can share from the stage, but we're also happy to come and speak and share and answer questions 'cause. This is a topic that I feel like a lot of people don't necessarily know a ton about.
It's crazy the number of people that I talk to that have no idea that when kids come [00:21:00] into care they go to the DSS office. Everyone thinks they go straight to a foster home or straight to another home and don't realize that in between time. And so we love to come and sit around a table and talk and answer questions and actually share what the need is in our county and what it looks like.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, and. Unfortunately, another part that the citizens don't recognize is sometimes these kids will be coming to Isaiah 117 house from the hospital where they have been injured. And it's not unusual. For wake man has a pediatric er and there's a lot of kids that come into care from that emergency room.
And there's a Wake County social worker there 24 7. And, you know, This doesn't look like a natural break. This doesn't look like a naturally occurring brain breed. I mean, these are the cases I've had in the last 12 months come out of that. These are Johnson County cases come out of that pediatric ER and in Wake County.
And so. [00:22:00] Sometimes these kids are gonna be coming from a hospital, not even a house where they have been injured. Spiral breaks of children's legs. I mean, I'm not trying to make people feel bad. This is a positive uplifting podcast, but I think people need to understand there's a lot of things that are not great.
because society has some things that are not great, but you know, we need to do what we can to help these Children. So how can people reach out? I mean, I know there's a, there's a website email and a phone number. Give us all the information so people know how they can try to donate.
Randa Gay: Yeah. So you can find us on Facebook at Isaiah 1 17 House of Johnston County.
We're also on instagram. We have a newsletter that you can sign up. Yeah. via our website and we send out an email once a month, just kind of updating where we are in the process, different volunteer opportunities and ways to get involved. And then you can email us anytime at johnston N. C. At Isaiah 117 house dot com.
Or give me a call and we will set up a time to [00:23:00] talk and answer any questions that you have.
Jonathan Breeden: Well, what's the phone number? Somebody could call.
Randa Gay: Yeah, you can give me a call at 919 623
Jonathan Breeden: Okay. And if I go to the web page and I was able to 17 houses all over the country and I hit the donate now button, how do I know that it's coming to Johnston County?
Randa Gay: So if you hit the donate now button, make sure that you hit the drop down menu and select Johnston County, North Carolina. You also have the option to mail a check and one of the easiest ways to make sure it gets to Johnston County. That way is to put in the memo line, Johnston County and the accounting department at.
Big Isaiah 117 house. We'll make sure that it comes to Johnston County, North Carolina.
Jonathan Breeden: I got you. Well, that's great. That's great I mean clearly y'all are doing god's work and I really appreciate that and I know the citizens of this county do So last question we ask everybody on this podcast. What do you love most about johnson county?
Randa Gay: Oh, I think for me, I've known it my whole life growing up here, but just seeing the [00:24:00] community come together through this organization has been mind blowing to me whether it be the construction workers for this house to people signing up to give monthly to volunteers randomly showing up at events ready to be the hands to help.
Johnston County cares about Johnston County, and that is evident in all parts of this ministry. Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. Well, we'd like to thank the Isaiah 117 house for coming to be on today. This has been really enlightening. I've, I've really enjoyed this. I've been looking forward to this since I got booked a couple of weeks ago.
Jonathan Breeden: So seriously, if you listen to this and you feel called to help this group of people who are trying to do this for the children of Johnson County, reach out and give as best you can, as everything counts, every little bit counts. in the nonprofit world. 50, 100. It doesn't matter. Every little bit counts when you're trying to raise money as a nonprofit and you're trying to do the right thing.
As we mentioned earlier, please like follow, subscribe to this podcast, wherever you're seeing it. Also tag us in your [00:25:00] Instagram stories. Best of Johnson County. That'll raise the awareness of more people become aware of the best Johnson County podcast and the Isaiah 117 house until next time I'm your host, Jonathan Breeden.
I
Narrator: That's the end of today's episode of Best of Johnston County, a show brought to you by the trusted team at Breeden Law Office. We thank you for joining us today and we look forward to sharing more interesting facets of this community next week. Every story, every viewpoint adds another thread to the rich tapestry of Johnston County.
If the legal aspects highlighted raised some questions, help is just around the corner at www. breedenfirm. com.
