For those of you who havn’t heard, the contract for the first potential TSC Hub site on Allgood Road fell through in March for several reasons - zoning, fundraising, and neighbor feedback (NIMBY!). Clearly, we were very disappointed; however, we now recognize God’s protection … AND we’re so thankful for all that we learned! We learned …

• A ton about fundraising, about real estate & zoning, and about NFPs.

• A ton about launching something new & innovative; and therefore, not being fully understood.

• A ton about people, specifically the neighbors:

  • They ripped off my rose-colored glasses and stomped on them. Initially buttering me up by saying, “Bless your hearts. What y’all are doing for these poor foster children is so wonderful and so needed.”

  • But then they would quickly followed up by saying things like, “But I’ll fight you to hell & back before you let those delinquents burn down the woods, bring crime to our neighborhood, and crush my property value!”

  • Literally, that’s what they said. So sweet, right?

• We also learned a ton about ourselves … especially me.

• And most importantly we learned a ton about God - His plans for us and His love for us and those He’s called us to serve! He’s got us. He’ll provide a way. We just have to trust Him, lean into Him, and take the next step He’s put in front of us.

Our efforts to purchase the Allgood Road property also helped us gain traction – opening up opportunities to talk to people and to connect with organizations that we likely wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. And besides that, it also helped us raise a good bit of money that we’ve used and will continue to use to move all-things-TSC forward to uniquely serve the foster care community.

Lastly, God used this oh-so-lovely experience to help us crystalize TSC’s value & mission and refocus our efforts. Although we are still looking forward to having a TSC Hub site, we believe that we’ll probably end up finding property through a partnership of some sort. But in the meantime, parallel to those efforts, we’ve pivoted to focus on some less capital-intensive initiatives. And the great thing is, these initiatives immediately impact the lives of foster families and their communities (see Updates 2 & 3). We’re excited!!!