BY KAYLEIGH FREEMAN
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA – BigHouse Foundation, a nonprofit organization serving foster and adoptive families since 2009, is taking steps toward opening Little House Preschool, an early development child care service for foster children.
Little House’s main initiative is to provide child care to foster children ages zero to five, while simultaneously offering trauma-informed care, counseling services and other developmental support.
“Our kids are coming in with experiences of trauma, loss and grief, and they’re expressing that even as tiny babies, toddlers and preschoolers,” said Micah Melnick, founder and executive director of BigHouse Foundation. “They’re expressing that hurt and pain, so what we want to do is create Little House, which is a preschool that has trauma-informed care.”
As both local day cares and foster parents contacted BigHouse for assistance, Melnick realized a child care service for foster children could greatly benefit the community. She also noticed that many aspiring foster parents were unable to take placements because of limited daycare options.
“[We noticed] families having to say ‘no’ because there wasn’t day care available,” Melnick said. “That’s a huge frustration to parents that we know would be wonderful foster parents to these young babies and children, but they can’t say ‘yes’ because they have a full-time job that won’t allow for the time off.”
Early trauma rewires the brain, affecting the way a child thinks and subsequently reacts to their surroundings. Little House will provide interventions including trauma-informed care and counseling services to support foster children, Melnick said.
BigHouse Foundation was founded in 2009 by Micah and Blake Melnick, Opelika natives who were college students at the University of Alabama at the time of the organization’s founding.
“[When we started] we just had a clothes closet in downtown Opelika … we came and set it up over Christmas break and then went back to school, officially got all of our paperwork done, got our nonprofit 501(c)(3) that semester, graduated, moved back here and started running it ourselves,” Melnick said.
Micah Melnick said she was inspired to open BigHouse Foundation after watching her parents become foster parents in 2007, an experience that opened her eyes to the challenges faced by children in the foster system.
“Our mission is to connect the needs of foster families and adoptive families with the generosity of the community through the love of Jesus Christ,” Micah said. “We are considered a ministry, but we serve families regardless of their affiliation with religion. We just love to serve our local foster adoptive families.”
Over the past 16 years, BigHouse Foundation has served about 35,000 children across Alabama through its programs and events, according to the Melnicks.
The organization has hosted several annual collection drives, including the swimsuit and towel drive, which gives foster children a new swimsuit and embroidered towel. BigHouse Foundation has also hosted camps and retreats, such as the annual family beach retreat which offers a getaway for foster families with a decreased financial burden.
In recent years, BigHouse Foundation has focused its efforts on serving East Alabama communities more directly by narrowing statewide initiatives.
“One of our goals is to build relationships with families, so we don’t want to just provide the resource and then walk away,” Micah said. “We want to really get to know these families and build relationships with them, get to know the kids in their home and see them long-term.”
BigHouse Foundation officially began fundraising for Little House on Nov. 5 at “Hitting the Links for Little House,” a golf tournament at RJT Golf Trail at Grand National.
The timeline for opening Little House will depend on how quickly the organization can raise the necessary funds to bring the project to life. The ultimate end goal for building a new facility and creating a fully functioning Little House is around $3 million, Micah said. However, she is looking at ways to begin serving the community with less funding.
“We might go ahead and ease into it on a smaller scale [at the BigHouse building], where we can start providing services that are helpful – but it wouldn’t be 75 kids, it would be 25 kids, so [it would be] scaled differently,” Micah said.
Little House will avoid out-of-pocket costs by using state child care stipends for foster children, Micah said.
In addition to supporting east Alabama families, the Little House initiative will give Auburn University students opportunities to gain practical experience in social work and child development.
Donations for Little House can be made on BigHouse Foundation’s website, ourbighouse.org, or via check by contacting Micah Melnick at bighouse@ourbighouse.org.
