In 2008, Dr. Lori Buzzetti felt God tell her that she should build a home where pregnant women stuck in incredibly challenging life situations could seek food, shelter, guidance, and spiritual solace. At the time, Dr. Buzzetti was the director of the Women’s Health Clinic at St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. She saw expecting mothers come into the hospital every day, many of them badly needing support and basic life necessities.
“We would see women that were in shelters, women that were living out of their cars,” Buzzetti recalls in an interview with Inside Indy, a program on a local Indianapolis TV station. “We would see women that would have no place to go, or they would have an unplanned pregnancy where they already had several kids and just didn’t know how they were going to be able to support one more. It just helped to fuel the call that I had received from God to create a home where they would feel loved, but also a place where they could connect with resources that they may not even be aware of.”
With passionate ambition and the love of God enveloping her heart, Dr. Buzzetti got right to work. She formally established So Big in 2012, named to acknowledge that God’s plans for this program are so big, they are unfathomable. So Big was created as a 501(c)(3) institution, meaning that the federal government officially recognizes it as a tax-deductible charity.
So Big acquired a quaint, old farmhouse in Whitestown, Indiana and named it the Mountain House. The house needed lots of work from top to bottom. With the help of many loving volunteers and donations from all over the Indianapolis area, the house was fixed up from the inside out and made ready for mothers and children to move into.
“We had to get variances with the state to help us meet code,” Dr. Buzzetti said. “In terms of renovation, we had to get rid of asbestos, treat mold, and encapsulate any lead paint. We tore out all the flooring and put down new. We repainted everything and made the house handicap accessible. We put on a new roof and put in a sprinkler system, lighted exit signs, and fire alarms. We rewired most of the house, hooked the house up to city water, and switched from propane to gas heat.”
The first floor of the home includes the kitchen, dining room, living room, a covered porch flooded with natural light, a staff office and overnight bedroom, and two bathrooms. Upstairs are four bedrooms and a bathroom. Each bedroom is ready to go, with a beautifully made bed and a shower caddy on the dresser already filled with shampoo, body wash, lotion, and other hygiene products. Hand-painted calligraphy displays biblical messages of hope and love on walls throughout the home. The bookshelf in the living room holds children’s books, parenting books, and a few study Bibles. The basement allows for copious storage and closets scattered around the house provide for even more, as the home is jam-packed with donated baby supplies such as formula, diapers, wipes, and toys. Outside, beyond the bountiful vegetable garden which the residents eat from, is an open field which is incredibly picturesque at sunset.
The Mountain House can board up to four women at a time. If a woman has a child under age 10, the child may board as well. The residents can remain there for up to a year after giving birth if they are still not ready to be on their own yet. The women must be at least 18 years old, as there are other institutions that help pregnant minors. Unfortunately, the house is also unable to take in women with substance abuse issues or women fleeing from domestic violence. Individuals with issues like these need specialized care and resources that the Mountain House is not able to offer. However, if a woman calls the house seeking residency and she fits one of these characteristics, staff don’t just turn her away. She will be referred to other organizations in the area that can give her what she needs, such as Wheeler Mission Ministries, another organization in Indianapolis which supports homeless women and children in need.
What’s uniquely brilliant about the Mountain House is that it’s not just a shelter. The Mountain House is indeed a physical place, but it’s also a multi-faceted, holistic, life-engaging program. When a woman moves into the house, she agrees to manage her life responsibilities, respect certain house rules, help out with housekeeping tasks, and be either employed or in school until she is too far along in her pregnancy to be so. She also agrees to attend a church service of some kind weekly and do daily devotionals with staff, as one of the goals of the house is to spiritually guide the women along the Christian path. She agrees to be receptive to learning skill sets of many kinds, such as those that are financial, professional, social, and parental in nature. The goal is that the skill sets and newfound spiritual faiths that the women develop would stay with them for life, so that when they move out of the Mountain House, they are set up for a new chapter in life full of health, happiness, stability, and internal peace.
The Mountain House is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The house manager is a licensed social worker who manages house operations and consistently oversees each resident’s wellbeing. The house manager also keeps records of residents’ histories and has the last word on accepting or rejecting applications for new residents. Resident assistants are present at the home day and night, helping the mothers and children with anything they need and providing care and guidance. A professional chef plans meals ahead of time together with the residents at the beginning of each week, ensuring that everyone is eating both meals that they like and meals that are nutritious, especially for the expecting mothers.
I had the privilege to be a resident assistant and a meal manager this summer, and I even got to be there for a new baby to arrive. My favorite moment this summer was seeing the mother and baby coming home from the hospital. Luckily for me, they came home during my shift, so I got to witness brand new motherhood for the first time in a long time. I remember just sitting in silence with her and the sleeping baby. There was an amazing energy in the room. Nothing had to be said. It was nothing short of absolutely amazing. I learned so much from the residents, my coworkers, Dr. Buzzetti, and my supervisors about life and what truly matters in it. Dr. Buzzetti was one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever worked for. Her selfless commitment to helping people in need is incredibly admirable, and her willingness to spend so much time crafting such a life-changing program for the benefit of disadvantaged mothers is remarkable.
Yes, this house moves mountains for mothers in need. I know this because I saw it with my own eyes.
“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
Images from So Big on Facebook and https://fox59.com/2018/03/01/maternity-house-opens-in-whitestown-for-str….