Isaiah 117 House looks for new spot after rezoning complaints south of Lafayette
Isaiah 117 House looks for new spot after rezoning complaints south of Lafayette
Plus, Tippecanoe County Courthouse dome goes blue and gold for Ukraine. And Ukrainian students hold supply drive today at Purdue Armory.
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Isaiah 117 House, a faith-based nonprofit looking to open a facility designed as a short-term space for abused or neglected children waiting on foster care placement, is back looking for ground after one spot ran into zoning snags.
A rezoning plan proposed by Innovation Church at its property on Concord Road had been put on hold until Monday’s Tippecanoe County commissioners meeting. But it was pulled by the church, Tom Murtaugh, a county commissioner, said.
Emily Sampson, Tippecanoe County program coordinator for the Tennessee-based organization, said concerns from neighbors – who protested the church’s plan to designate close to eight acres as a business zone, so it could parcel off and donate roughly an acre for Isaiah 117 House – had everyone rethinking the process.
“Isaiah 117 House never goes where we aren't wanted,” Sampson said. “We don't fight for land. We are a service to the whole community, and we need the community to welcome us with open arms.”
Sampson didn’t call it a setback, just another chapter for a project that started raising funds in Tippecanoe County in 2021. She said the organization as a couple of other options with potential donated land and is open to other possibilities. And the group continues to raise money to build and operate the facility, with the next event scheduled for April 22.
Isaiah 117 House projects are meant to keep kids who have been pulled from their homes for no fault of their own from having to sit in a Department of Child Services office while a foster home is arranged. The homes are built to handle waits lasting hours, rather than days, according to organizers.
Innovation Church, 2502 Mondavi Blvd., offered land for the project in what Pastor Billy Holden called an extension of the church’s outreach work with foster care.
The church’s rezoning request, shifting for a planned development meant for residential use to a neighborhood business zoning, won a unanimous recommendation Jan. 19 from the Tippecanoe County Area Plan Commission. That was only after agreeing to restrict future uses on the rest of the church property so it couldn’t be used for convenience stores, gas stations and other commercial operations. They agreed to cut out all but a handful of possible uses for the property, including: Individual and family social services; community, neighborhood, senior citizen or youth centers; child care centers; nursing and personal care facilities; adult day care centers; physical fitness facilities; and religious organizations.
Neighbors in the Hickory Ridge subdivision and others in the area just south of Lafayette carried petitions and spoke against the rezoning during the January APC meeting and were there during an early February meeting of the commissioners, when the church asked to pause the request to work out more details.
Neighbors questioned what the church might do with the rest of the property once it was rezoned for business, even with the restrictions attached. Several mentioned trust issues with church leadership and complaints about how the church kept its property. There also were concerns about having a foster care facility at the entrance to the neighborhood and whether that would be better somewhere else.
Sampson said she and Ronda Paulson, founder and executive director of Isaiah 117 House, met with the county and got the sense that commissioners weren’t likely to be comfortable saying yes, given the blowback. That meant it was time to look for a new spot, she said.
“We are still hoping to break ground this year and have an open Isaiah 117 House as soon as possible,” Sampson said. “Until our red door is open, children will continue to wait in the DCS office downtown, feeling ashamed and alone.”
A VIEW FROM DOWNTOWN, FOR UKRAINE
This was the view of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse Saturday night, the second day it was illuminated in blue and a touch of gold in support of the people of Ukraine, as the Russian invasion went deeper into its second week. The county planned to have the lights on the 19th century courthouse dome for another night Sunday in downtown Lafayette.
Speaking of which ..
REMINDER … SUPPLY DRIVE SUNDAY FOR UKRAINE
(Note: A version of this announcement ran Saturday. Consider the repeat a reminder.)
The Ukrainian Student Association at Purdue is planning a drive on campus Sunday to collect supplies to send to Ukraine, as the country fights off a Russian invasion.
Ksenia Lewyckyj, president of the Ukrainian student group at Purdue, said the university provided a truck to take supplies to Meest Karpaty in Chicago, which has been shipping supplies bound for Ukraine at no cost since the war began a little over a week ago. Lewyckyj said she expects what’s collected at Purdue will be on a flight Wednesday to Poland and to Ukraine from there.
“It's important to keep in mind that we have limited space to transport these supplies, so we want to collect the most useful things that take up the least amount of space,” Lewyckyj said Friday. “A first aid kit will probably be more useful than a bag full of used clothes. I think medical supplies/protective gear are most needed right now.”
The group posted a list of most-needed supplies and equipment, including medical and hospital supplies, bedding, new shoes, hygiene products, tents and generators. For a full list, here’s the list posted on the students’ Instagram account at @PurdueUkrainians or at Purdue’s site.
The drive will run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at the north end entrance to the Purdue Armory, 812 Third St. in West Lafayette. Parking is available at the armory lot just off University Street.
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Interesting article on the Isaiah house. But I also wanted to comment on the previous article about the man on the motorcycle. That to me seemed to me to be a coverup by the police. They investigate themselves, and then find no wrong doing. It sounds like they put the dog on him because they could. The officers were in no danger from 1 man sitting on a bike. Thanks for following up on this. By the way, I am pro-police
(Pro good police!) Also, do you have any info on the civil suit filed by the widow of the man shot by ISP while fixing his daughter's car? You were still with J & C then I think. That was a whitewash as well. That cop should be in jail. Thanks, Dave, enjoy your work. Steve Yantis
About the Isaiah 117 House: sounds like a perfect example of the Not in My Backyard syndrome!