Welcome to What’s Your Whisper? With Kathy Izard. This is a place for people who love true feel-good stories about listening for a calling and exploring ideas about what it means to live a purpose-filled life. Author of five inspirational books for adults and children, Kathy loves learning about people who have heard that quiet whisper to do something that feels unexpected, uncomfortable and maybe inconvenient. Oftentimes we feel totally unqualified to do what it suggests, but at the same time, it is impossible not to listen because that whisper is so insistent. In 2007, Kathy first heard a whisper to quit her job to begin helping those experiencing homelessness and ended up raising $10 million to build homes for those experiencing chronic homelessness in Charlotte. Since that time, she has met hundreds of other people who have heard whispers big and small that all led to remarkable stories. These are all real people with true experiences filled with amazing grace. Listen in to hear not only what happened, but why people listened. Each episode will have you asking—what’s my whisper?
Patients of Dr. Jane Harrell often say that she is the most dedicated physician they have ever known. In the modern health system where ten minutes can be all the time a doctor can spare, “Dr. Jane” created a medical practice for paying patients as well as a free clinic for the homeless where time and attention are standard practice. When tragedy struck the Harrell family five years ago, it seemed doubly unfair to imagine that a doctor who gave so much could lose her oldest child, and namesake, to an inoperable brain tumor, DIPG. But the Harrell family vowed to carry on the remarkable hope of their 17-year old Jane to “change the world” by creating Jane’s Fund to do good and “Shine Like Jane.”
H3 Healthcare https://www.h3healthcare.com (https://www.h3healthcare.com)
Jane’s Fund: https://www.shinelikejane.org (https://www.shinelikejane.org)
25 Jun 2024
07 - Liz Clasen-Kelly's Whisper to Help Strangers Saved Her Son
In her role as the CEO of North Carolina’s largest homeless service agency, Roof Above, Liz Clasen-Kelly has often guided families looking for thier missing loved ones. Five years ago when Lucy Fields needed help finding her twin sister, Ellie, Liz was able to help the sisters reunite. Liz never imagined that Lucy would become the person she needed to help her find the right specialist for her son’s rare disease called PANS (pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome) Both Lucy’s son, Jacob, and Liz’s son, Isaac share the same rare autoimmune disease and in a moment of divine connection, Liz and Lucy became the angels in each other’s lives.
Roof Above Link: https://www.roofabove.org (https://www.roofabove.org)
Roof Above Social: @roofabove
https://www.instagram.com/roofabove/ (https://www.instagram.com/roofabove/)
Understanding PANS/PANDAS https://pandasnetwork.org (https://pandasnetwork.org)
18 Jun 2024
06 - Caroline Hart's Whisper at Crossnore
As the Deputy Director for Crossnore Communities for Children, Caroline Hart was very familiar with the stories of children they served who came from homes where they suffered abuse and trauma. Caroline and her husband, Jim, had one son and were not looking to adopt. But one little girl at Crossnore, Nevaeh, stole her heart. Caroline began to think Nevaeh might be a child she could adopt until she realized the little girl had three brothers and was part of a sibling set of four. No matter how she tried, Caroline could not walk away from the whisper that told her these children were meant for her and the Hart family would become their forever home.
About Crossnore Communities for Children: https://www.crossnore.org
Crossnore Social: @crossnorecommunites
https://www.instagram.com/crossnorecommunities/ (https://www.instagram.com/crossnorecommunities/)
10 Jun 2024
05 - Kate Kennedy's Tuition Free Whisper: The Ansley School
When Kate Kennedy was driving in Atlanta, she saw a woman on the street with three children. Kate has three children of her own and she remembers wondering how in the world that woman balanced experiencing homelessness and getting her children to school. That thought became a whisper that led Kate on a three year quest to create a tuition-free private school for children experiencing homelessness in Atlanta. Today the Boyce L. Ansley School helps break the cycle of generational poverty and is the only school of its kind in the Southeast.
About The Ansley School Link: https://theansleyschool.org (https://theansleyschool.org)
About Kate Kennedy: Katekennedywrites.com (http://katekennedywrites.com/)
4 Jun 2024
04: Lesley Faulkner's Furnish for Good Whisper
Five years ago, Lesley Faulkner had never met Jackie Craig but she had heard of The Green Chair Project. Lesley was feeling a restlessness to do something different with her life but when she finally met Jackie, it seemed launching a nonprofit in Charlotte, NC just felt too big. But Lesley’s whisper would not let her go and after a chance meeting with two strangers, Priscilla Chapman and Mary Beth Hollett, Lesley teamed up to create Furnish for Good– a thriving nonprofit that connects underserved communities with home furnishings and beds for children.
About Furnish for Good: https://furnishforgood.org (https://furnishforgood.org)
Furnish for Good Social: Instagram @furnishforgood https://www.instagram.com/furnishforgoodorg/ (https://www.instagram.com/furnishforgoodorg/)
28 May 2024
03: Molly Painter's King's Ridge Whisper
Molly Painter had been volunteering with her local homeless women’s ministry but became frustrated that there were not more housing resources. Molly wasn’t sure how she could help the women get off the streets but it broke her heart to standby as they cycled in and out of homelessness. When Molly read The Hundred Story Home she said the whisper felt more like a “sledgehammer” that she should build housing. Molly has raised over $27 million to open Kings’ Ridge with 100 homes for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
About King’s Ridge: https://www.casanc.org/under-development/kingsridge/ (https://www.casanc.org/under-development/kingsridge/)
King’s Ridge Social: @casanorthcarolina
https://www.instagram.com/casanorthcarolina/ (https://www.instagram.com/casanorthcarolina/)
21 May 2024
02: The Whisper of Hopeway - Betsy Blue
Like so many, Betsy and her husband, Bill, had a family member with mental health challenges and they could not find appropriate care. In 2013, it was difficult to even get an appointment with a psychiatrist and no residential care options. After visiting some of the best centers in the country, Betsy and Bill followed their whisper to raise $25 million to build HopeWay, Charlotte’s first residential mental health treatment center which opened in 2016. HopeWay now serves over 1000 clients a year and has expanded to include programs for adolescents, veterans and people with eating disorders.
About HopeWay: https://hopeway.org
HopeWay Social: @hopewayclt
https://www.instagram.com/hopewayclt/ (https://www.instagram.com/hopewayclt/)
13 May 2024
01:What Are You Waiting For? Jackie Craig and the Green Chair Project
In 2010, Jackie Craig knew she was meant to be doing something different with her life but she couldn’t understand what the might be. When a woman at her church asked if she knew anyone who could use a lamp and a toaster, her whisper finally began to make sense. Jackie launched The Green Chair Project in Raleigh, NC to match gently loved furnishings with people coming out of homelessness, poverty and incarceration. In the last 14 years, Green Chair has helped over 24,000 people make their house a home.
About The Green Chair Project: https://thegreenchair.org (https://thegreenchair.org)
Green Chair Instagram: @greenchairproject (https://www.instagram.com/greenchairproject/)
10 May 2024
What's Your Whisper Podcast Trailer
Learn what's to come on my new podcast, What's Your Whisper.
New book available at KathyIzard.com.
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