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By Rachel Kytonen
rachel.kytonen@ecm-inc.com
Located on a farm just northwest of Cambridge, Li’l Farm Children’s Home provides a comforting, temporary home for children who need a welcoming and loving environment.
 Li’l Farm is run by Catholic nuns Margaret Roozen and Francette Malecha, who belong to the School Sisters of Notre Dame. They opened Li’l Farm in 1995 after running a childcare program in Ramsey County for 14 years.
Pictured from left to right: Sister Margaret Roozen and Sister Francette Malecha
Roozen and Malecha are the most recent recipients of Community Pride Bank’s “Pride of Our Community” award.
Roozen and Malecha received the award during a surprise luncheon in early May — which also happened to be National Foster Care Month — after being nominated by one of the Li’l Farm volunteers.
Community Pride Bank President Greg Owens said the award was established by the bank to recognize an individual, business or organization whose community involvement has provided a higher quality of life and/or betterment of the standard of living in the community as it directly impacts residents or businesses in Isanti County.
“A friend of ours nominated us who does chores for us once in a while, and said he wanted to bring some friends out to the farm,” Malecha said. “So he brought out Greg [Owens] who said he’d like us to meet with the bank’s advisory board. He asked if we could go to lunch sometime and we said that would be fine. Little did we know we were going to receive an award until we got to the luncheon, and people were congratulating us.”
Roozen and Malecha were humbled by the award, but said credit should also be given to other foster care providers.
“We accept this award in honor of all our children and the other foster care providers who provide temporary foster homes,” Roozen said. “There are plenty of other foster care parents in the county who do good work in the community.”
Malecha said the social workers are the ones who really have the tough job.
“I really wish the social workers could have gotten this award as well,” Malecha said. “They’re the ones who have to take the children out of their homes, bring them to a foster home, and then bring them back home again. The social workers really work hard and deserve recognition.”
What Malecha and Roozen offer the children who come to Li’l Farm is the reassurance that they are safe and are loved.
“Running Li’l Farm is very rewarding, and I think the children know they’re loved unconditionally,” Malecha said. “I remember when one little child looked up at me and said ‘no matter what we do, you still love us.’”
“There’s a lot of joy in seeing the children, seeing their faces, hearing their laughter and seeing them grow while they’re here,” Roozen said. “I’ve often wished somehow there would be a non-profit organization that this could be a model for. I just wish we didn’t have orphanages. That is why it’s just the two of us here, because that’s the closest you can get to parenting.”
About Li’l Farm
Roozen and Malecha moved to Isanti County after learning their home in Ramsey County was going to be torn down for development purposes.
During their time in Ramsey County, they learned how animals can be very therapeutic and thought it’d be nice to have a hobby farm for the children during their stay.
After researching different locations, Roozen and Malecha decided to move to Cambridge and became licensed foster care providers in Isanti County.
Since Catholic nuns can’t own property, Roozen explained Li’l Farm is a non-profit corporation and is governed by a board of directors whose members are people from the Cambridge area.
Li’l Farm offers a spacious farm with trees, a wooded area, a pond, an orchard, a large play area and a trail. The farm houses miniature donkeys, sheep, goats, pigs, peacocks, geese, ducks, chicken, guinea hens, cats and dogs.
Malecha explained Li’l Farm is licensed to care for up to six children and is an emergency foster care home — which means they are on call 24 hours a day and may take in children with as little as a 20-minute notice.
When children come to Li’l Farm, they are considered family.
“We really do a lot with the children; we take a lot of field trips, but we also give them little tasks for chores to do while they’re here,” Malecha said. “We tell them we’re now a family in this home and they need to take the responsibility of being a family and having a small task to do. Even the young children get a small task to do such as putting the napkins on the tables.”
Roozen said some of the older children may find an animal in the barn to befriend and their task may be to take care of that animal and make sure it has food and water.
Roozen and Malecha try to give the children a task that is geared toward their interests.
“We try to be sensitive and give the children a chore or task geared toward their likes,” Malecha said. “We also try to rotate the jobs so the children aren’t always doing the same thing, unless it’s a bigger chore which the child really enjoys.”
Roozen and Malecha said all their animals are really friendly and the children who stay with them learn how to treat the animals and know they can’t go in the barn unless they’re with an adult.
“We are always right there with them when they are in the barn,” Malecha said. “The majority of the children who stay with us really enjoy the animals and look forward to doing their chores associated with the care of the animals.”
Roozen and Malecha take the children on nature picnics, trips to the Children’s Science Museum in Minneapolis, trips to Duluth and visits to state parks.
They operate Li’l Farm based on the mission of their ministry which is dedicated to education, and taking care of women and children.
Li’l Farm is funded through community donations, foster care stipends, donors who provide goods and fund raising events.
How long will Roozen and Malecha run Li’l Farm? As long as they can. Why do they do it? Because they love children.
“When I look back at the 24 years we’ve been in foster care, I remember the children used to call us mom,” Roozen said. “Now they’ve started calling us grandma; now that’s a really weird feeling.”
What volunteers are saying
“Li’l Farm does a lot of good for young people who need help and I feel Sister Margaret and Sister Francette do a good job out there. The kids I’ve seen out there are well-behaved, treated well, clean and neat. The kids really have a good connection with the animals and talk with the animals if they’re feeling lonely. Li’l Farm is a good concept and well run.”
— Roger Bergman,
Community Pride Bank Advisory Board
Nominated Li’l Farm for the award
“The Sisters out there do such a good job with the kids. Li’l Farm is really a great thing and is needed by the community. When you visit the farm you see such a love of life and love for the kids. It’s a nice deal they’ve got going out there.”
— Darwin Larson, volunteer at Li’l Farm
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