Today, that ministry is the BigHouse Foundation. Over the past 13 years or so, he has served approximately 20,000 foster children.

“We’ve seen some really good families who’ve had kids who are really struggling, and they’ve had so much trauma and they’re going to be struggling,” said Micah, the ministry’s executive director, “so we at BigHouse, let’s just try to walk alongside them through it all.

THE CALL

When the Melnicks married in 2007, they were both students at the University of Alabama, with Blake in graduate school and Micah working on an undergraduate degree.

Meanwhile, Micah’s parents, Michael and Angie Brown of Opelika, became adoptive parents for the first time. Blake’s parents, Michael and Ellen Melnick, also from Opelika, had been foster parents before he was born and had adopted two children.

Micah said she and Blake got to know her parents’ adopted children and were “immersed in the world of foster care.”

“While we felt like we were really called and obligated and wanted to be involved and help, we didn’t feel at the time that we could be adoptive parents,” Micah said, “and there was no just not really a good avenue otherwise to support foster children if you couldn’t be a foster parent.

In 2009, BigHouse was created. It all started with a clothes closet in Opelika, in donated offices downtown.

Micah and Blake asked their college friends to clean out their and their siblings’ closets over the Thanksgiving holiday and donate unwanted items. Both still in school, they would run the closet during breaks, and Micah’s mother would take care of it when they had to go back to Tuscaloosa.

After graduating, Micah and Blake returned to Opelika so Blake could earn his doctorate. at Auburn University, where he now teaches as a lecturer in aerospace engineering. They were ready to help BigHouse grow.

Blake, now 37, said when his parents started fostering there were no organizations like BigHouse and sometimes the kids were “just dropped off in diapers and n had nothing with them”.

He’s seen how people give gifts to foster children, and “sometimes it doesn’t make them feel good.”

The BigHouse clothes closet was created to meet this need, “in a special and fun way”.

Micah, now 35, said BigHouse’s goal is to make children feel valued and important. At the clothes closet, she said, foster children and families should feel like they’re shopping, instead of looking through trash bags for donated items.

“We want the best experience for these foster kids,” Blake said. “We want to create as good an experience as possible.”

THE NAME

The Melnicks chose the name BigHouse after an Audio Adrenaline song on Heaven titled “Big House”.

Micah said she and her siblings grew up loving the song. When her parents started fostering, the kids would beg them to play the song “Big House” in the car.

“He says heaven is a big, big house with lots and lots of space,” Micah said, “a big, big table with lots and lots of food, a big, big yard where we can play football, a big, big house – it’s my Father’s house.

“There’s a specific line in there and it goes, ‘I don’t know if you have a mother or a father or a place you can call home, but in heaven you’ll have it all. “”

Micah said the song “resonated” with them because they wanted to create a community on Earth that not only points heavenward, is gospel-focused, and represents faith in Jesus, but also gives children a sense of of belonging.

In addition to providing resources, Micah said, BigHouse also aims to build relationships with children and their families and create a support system through “the good things and the bad things” they face.

“The families we serve are like our heroes,” Micah said. “They do a very hard job, and it’s such a great ministry they do at home.

“Parenting is difficult in general. It’s hard to raise someone else’s kids, and then be told by the government what to do, it’s just a very unique situation.

BigHouse hosts several events throughout the year, including a ball gown event called Glitz, Glam and Gowns; a bathing suit and towel reader; a beach retreat; a back-to-school party that provides children with school supplies; and a Santa’s Workshop shopping event.

Micah said the organization has a long history of providing resources across the state. But as more nonprofits have sprung up across the state to help foster families, the Melnicks have recently focused their attention on eastern Alabama, home to about 500 adoptive children and 200 foster families.

As for the 20,000 adoptive children they have supported, BigHouse continues to serve the children after they are adopted, and Blake said he and Micah keep in touch with the children as they grow into adults.

THE FUTURE

The Melnicks, who have three children of their own, are currently building what they call the BigHouse Retreat, and hope to have it completed in 2023. It will be their new official location and allow the organization to do and host everything on site.

“Our goal for this space is for it to be a place that really gives kids a foothold that a lot of them don’t have,” Micah said.

The new building will be 8,000 square feet on 9 acres of land and will include the boutique, offices and event space, as well as a game room, family room, kitchen, porches and a large play area. .

“We have to design and build from scratch exactly what we need and how we want it,” Blake said.

The Melnicks said this building will be one of the first of its kind and they hope other nonprofit foster care organizations will be inspired to build something similar in their communities.

BigHouse is also gearing up for a fundraiser called The Hustle, where individuals sign up for a challenge to run, walk, bike or swim a certain distance during the month of May. It costs $35 and attendees will receive a t-shirt.

To register, go to ourbighouse.org/bighouse-hustle. The deadline to register is May 1st.