By Michelle Key &
Morgan Bryce
The BigHouse Foundation held their 9th Annual BigHouse Support Dinner last Thursday night to promote and raise awareness about the impact of the organization both locally and statewide.
Micah Melnick, BHF’s executive director and founder, addressed the crowd and shared how she and her husband, Blake were called to start the organization while they were in college. Working primarily with foster families, she explained that the BHF connects them to resources including a clothes closet, and ‘New to Care’ bags. BHF also provides events that benefit parents and their children.
“We know that foster care is not easy, it is not a light decision. It takes a lot of commitment, and we want to show these families how much we care about them,” Melnick said.
The keynote speaker for the event was Keith Howard, vice president of services for the Oklahoma United Methodist Circle of Care. He spoke on the challenges of foster care and the need for organizations such as the Big House Foundation. Through the story of his family’s adventure in fostering and then adopting a sibling group of four children, Howard challenged the audience to listen to their hearts and find what their role in the foster care system and the support of the BHF could be. While recalling how he first came into contact with the children that would eventually move into his home and his heart, Howard said that he realized that “where convenience and inconvenience intersect, that’s where adventure awaits.”
Howard also praised the work of the BHF and their willingness to serve not only the Opelika-Auburn area but also other parts of the state.
“When everyone is looking at you like you’re crazy, like you’re doing something extraordinary and unordinary and ‘why would you do that,’ Big House says, ‘we’re going to walk with you, we’re going to hold your hand, and we’re going to support you.’ Big House fills in the gaps that occur when children are thrown in an ‘adventure’ that they did not ask to be in,” Howard said.
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.ourbighouse.org, email Melnick at micah@ourbighouse.org or call 334-363-2634.