Kathy Izard - The Hundred Story Home: A Memoir of Finding Faith in Ourselves and Something Bigger

CONTENTS

PRAISE FOR THE HUNDRED STORY HOME

From the beginning of time, I believe it was ordained that Kathy would have a life-changing encounter with Denver Moore. He believed that as well. These unexpected encounters... thrill believers and encourage doubters to search. Prepare yourself to be thrilled or to begin searching for your Denver.

Ron Hall, bestselling coauthor, Same Kind of Different As Me (movie adaptation, October 2017)

Compelling and convicting, The Hundred Story Home is a powerful testament to the way one person can affect transformation at the deepest levels. Kathys beautiful storytelling propelled me outside of my comfort zones.... Its impossible to read The Hundred Story Home and walk away unchanged.

Courtney Westlake, author, A Different Beautiful

Kathy has written one of the most inspirational books Ive ever read. She weaves her incredible storytelling with authenticity and humility to the page unlike any other. Kathy is one of those rare people who see a need in their communities and do something about it. This book might just cause you to step out and do something that youve never done before for the benefit of someone else.

Chad Cannon, chief marketing officer, Michael Hyatt & Co.

I LOVE The Hundred Story Home. Kathy Izard is a beautiful writer who has woven her personal life story into an account of her heroic effort to help the homeless. In her book of midlife discovery, she writes not only about creating a community for one hundred homeless adults but also inspires others to do so much more than what they ever thought possible.

Mary Dell Harrington, writer and cofounder, Grown & Flown

This is a powerful story, skillfully told, and one that will hold you. As you read about a remarkable woman who gave up a promising career to do what for her was totally unexpectedto build a home for the homelessyou may find it is also a bridge to faith for you. As it has been for her.

Leighton Ford, president, Leighton Ford Ministries

In The Hundred Story Home, Kathy Izard so beautifully and eloquently manages what we all wish we couldcapturing her life story in a transparent and authentic way. Through the narrative of her life, we see Kathys triumphs, struggles, and ultimate commitment to something bigger than herself: the call to help those less fortunate. Kathy is a storyteller, philanthropist, and courageous writer throughout these pages and in her life.

Anne Neilson, artist and author, Angels in Our Midst and Strokes of Compassion

The Hundred Story Home is more than just a feel-good story of hope and purpose. It is an inspiring call to action, heralding the something-bigger-than-ourselves that resides within each of us.... It is this story and those like it that allow us to move beyond our perceived notions of the other and embrace our abilities with humility, intention, and great purpose to solve the seemingly intractable issues we as human beings and as a culture say we care most about.

Robin Emmons, CNN Hero and executive director, Sow Much Good

The Hundred Story Home is a captivating, beautifully written account of one womans search for purpose and how a combination of doubt, faith, and doing the right thing a thousand times over led to the building of something important and extraordinary.

Mark Ethridge, author, Grievances and Fallout

Compelling, inspiring, funny, and poignant.... This is a book about finding your purpose in a meaningful life; its about faith and family and friendship. But mostly, its a love story: a fathers love, a mothers love, a daughters love, and a beautiful, beautiful couples love.

Kristin Hills Bradberry, nonprofit adviser, Charlotte, North Carolina

The Hundred Story Home is that book. The book that you cant mention offhand and that you cant just hope someone reads. Its the book that deserves to be pressed into someones hands with a promise to have tea and talk about it. The Hundred Story Home is the book that youll be pressing into someones hands because it presses into your heart.

Rachel Estes, director of Missions and Outreach, Canterbury United Methodist Church, Birmingham, Alabama

Kathy Izard tells two compelling stories in one: about her journey toward fulfilling her lifes purpose and about Charlottes journey to finally treating its chronically homeless with compassion and dignity. Each has twists and turns, each has a happy ending, and Izard tells each with a style that will captivate readers far beyond her most natural audience.

Taylor Batten, editorial page editor, Charlotte Observer

2018 Kathy Izard

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Poem stanzas from The Journey by David Whyte are printed with permission from Many Rivers Press, www.davidwhyte.com, Many Rivers Press, Langley WA, USA.

Any Internet addresses, phone numbers, or company or product information printed in this book are offered as a resource and are not intended in any way to be or to imply an endorsement by Thomas Nelson, nor does Thomas Nelson vouch for the existence, content, or services of these sites, phone numbers, companies, or products beyond the life of this book.

Epub Edition May 2018 9780785220015

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Izard, Kathy, 1963- author.

Title: The hundred story home : a memoir of finding faith in ourselves and something bigger / Kathy Izard.

Description: Nashville : W Publishing Group, 2018.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017059535 | ISBN 9780785219880 (softcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Church work with the homelessNorth CarolinaCharlotte. | Izard, Kathy, 1963 | Christian biography.

Classification: LCC nusnc | DDC 259.086/9420975676dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017059535

Printed in the United States of America

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To my Goose,

the First Believer

Sometimes everything

has to be

inscribed across

the heavens

so you can find

the one line

already written

inside you.

DAVID WHYTE, THE JOURNEY

The events in this book took place over the course of many years, the majority during 200712. I have reconstructed details to the best of my memory, using journals and e-mails. Some names have been changed to protect confidentiality. In several scenes the time element is compressed for the sake of narrative flow, but the stories told in these pages are true.

In 2007, a man I barely knew asked me a simple question that would change my life forever. The man was Denver Moore, coauthor of Same Kind of Different As Me, and he wanted to know:

Where are the beds?

For years after that encounter I would wrestle with why Denver had chosen to challenge me. At the time I was a wife, mother of four, graphic designer, and soup kitchen volunteer. How could I possibly do anything about Charlottes homeless problem? Why would Denver imagine that I could?