CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Months of work mean a brand new license plate is hitting the streets in Tennessee, and drivers can support foster children by purchasing it.

The State of Tennessee is distributing Isaiah 117 House license plates to the 1,000 people who preordered it as part of the approval process. After that, county clerk visitors can tag their vehicle with a brand new design that benefits the foster care bridge program.

“John Lundberg was so gracious to write legislation for us to start this process, and then we started the process,” Ronda Paulson, founder of the organization, said. “But if you don’t complete it, you need a thousand signatures within 6 months, if you don’t do it within 6 months, you need an extension.”

Once the work of signatures and preorders was done, Paulson said the process was largely a waiting game.

“We are so excited,” Paulson said. “It’s been an almost 2-year process to get to this moment to see a tag on a car in the State of Tennessee. We could not be more excited.”

The tag features the organization’s name and logo, and Paulson said she hopes it provides much-needed visibility.

“To us, this tag means more awareness,” Paulson said. “And just to be clear, not awareness for us but awareness for the foster care crisis. Awareness for the fact that we need foster homes, awareness for the fact that there are children in our state in serious need, and it’s time for us to rise up and do something about that.”

Specialty plates in Tennessee are available at an extra cost, and part of that fee is dedicated to fundraising for the plate’s designer organization. Once the public gets involved with the plate, Paulson said she hopes it creates a new funding stream for projects across the state.

“We don’t want to just open homes, we want to keep homes open,” Paulson said. “And now this is a new way that people can support us on a continual basis.”

While the plate is just trickling out to preorder customers for now, Paulson said those who plan to renew their tags soon should check for the design at their local office.