DMAAR REALTORS® Rally Behind Isaiah 117 to Support Foster Children

September 18, 2025

When children are removed from their homes out of concern for their safety, they are usually brought to a child welfare services office to await placement. Isaiah 117 seeks to fill the gap between a child's removal from their home and their placement into foster care, providing them comfort and the feeling of home while they await placement. 

The national non-profit, which operates in 57 cities across the U.S., plans to open a house in Polk County in 2026, thanks in part to the help of the Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS®. 

REALTORS® across the metro will learn more about Isaiah 117 and raise funds for the organization during the Annual DMAAR Golf Outing this month. 

BJ Knapp, a golf outing committee member, first learned about Isaiah 117 after seeing a story aired on WHO-TV earlier this year on the non-profit's desire to expand into Polk County. 

"Every year, we sit down as a committee to decide on a charity or cause to raise funds for," he said. "I saw the new story, we sat down the next morning for a meeting and started looking into it." 

Knapp then reached out to Megan Johnson, the expansion coordinator for Isaiah 117 in Iowa to learn more. 

"Most people understand the high level of foster care, that a child might have to be removed from their home for safety and that they will go to foster care," Johnson said. "But there's a gap between the removal and getting to a foster home. Foster families aren't just waiting on the porch waiting for children to be dropped off. It can be three to five hours, or three to five days." 

In Polk County, children often end up at the Department of Health and Human Services as they wait for placement. 

"It's a government office, sometimes they're sitting on the floor or sleeping there. Our goal is to not add to the trauma they are experiencing," Johnson said. "Our goal is to raise the funds to buy a property, a house, that is a place the kids will go." 

The home will not only provide a safe, welcoming place for children, it will also provide support and resources to the social workers who are assisting in cases. While social workers are trying to solidify placements, they often also have to entertain and provide comfort to children. At Isaiah 117, the house will provide a safe environment with games, shows and other activities for the children. 

Johnson also notes that in many cases, children don't have many belongings when they are removed from a home. Isaiah 117 will provide what she calls the "first 48," or the first 48 hours of time in foster care. 

"We try to cover everything a foster family or child will need in their first 48 hours, whether that's formula, clothes, shoes," she said. "This way, if a family is able to take a child they don't have to immediately run to the store. They can spend time with the kids and get to know them." 

After a brief meeting, Knapp knew the non-profit would be a perfect fit for the annual Golf Outing beneficiary. 

"It really checks the boxes of what we were talking about as a committee as far as the support they provide," he said. "As we do every year, we collectively decided it was the right fit." 

For her part, Johnson was thrilled to have the support of DMAAR.

"It's a small gap to fill but we want to do it really well," she said. "We are so grateful and I love Iowa, I love the people of Des Moines. We appreciate that DMAAR got on board, that BJ saw it on the news and brought us in." 

Johnson said that while the funds raised through the Golf Outing will help toward the organization's long-term goal of finding a property, it will help in its immediate mission: to restock the Polk County Health & Human Services offices. 

"They have cabinets that are empty," she said. "We're working on stocking them with clothes, formula, and diapers. We can't prevent these kids from going there right now, but we can make it easier both for children and social workers."