"Heart Galleries" helping North Texas foster children find permanent homes
NORTH TEXAS — There is a beautiful new effort underway to help foster children find permanent homes and it all begins with a picture.
"So our gallery is a movement that's actually going across the United States right now," said Tanya Houk, Heart Gallery North Texas. "And Texas actually has 11 art galleries."
Houk knows well that a picture is worth more than a thousand words. For children losing hope in foster care, that picture can allow eyes to open the door to hearts. And permanent homes.
"Our goal is to get them out of foster care as quickly as possible," said Houk.
The effort is presented by the Gladney Center for Adoption and Houk's face lights up when she thinks of how often those pictures have changed lives.
"Because there are so many kids out there that need a home and someone just to love them," said Samuel Bungo-French.
He is now a busy college freshman, but he was born into foster care, never knowing the permanence of parents. As a teen, Bungo-French said he had accepted that he'd likely navigate life alone.
"Like you have hope that you're going to be adopted," explained the now 19-year-old. "But as you're aging, that hope starts to fade, because not that many people want an older kid like a teenager."
Then, Bungo-French became a part of a Heart Gallery photo shoot. And his family found him.
"Think of it, like, as a hug," he said when asked what being adopted was like as a teenager. "Think about it as a jacket in winter, like you go outside, it's freezing cold, and when like, and you don't have a jacket on. But then you come back in and put a jacket on, and you go back outside and you're warm. That's the only way I know how to describe it, what having parents is like."
The Heart Gallery displays are now hanging in the Hulen Mall in Fort Worth, The Parks Mall in Arlington, the Town East Mall in Mesquite and the Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. Each display includes 10-20 photographs. Some galleries have also been installed at some YMCA locations.
"You walk by and you say, 'Oh, that child looks just like my child did when he was that age'," explained Houk, "or have a connection in some form or fashion with that picture. And it makes them read that there are over 6000 nearly 7000 children in Texas alone available for adoption."
Although we may have heard those numbers, figures are not the faces of children just desperate for families of their own.
"That's where the feelings are going to come," said Houk with a knowing smile.
After all, they say, a picture can change a life. They've seen it happen.
"It works. It does work. It does work," said Houk, adding that children whose photos become a part of the Heart Gallery have a better chance of being adopted.
As for the children, she said they feel seen and know that someone is still working on their behalf.
"These three girls actually just got matched," she said with a wide smile, pointing to a photo of three siblings.
Houk said sibling groups, the medically fragile and older children are especially hard to place. But, again, she's seen the Heart Galleries make new families and there are always so many more waiting.
"And so we need to get their picture down and put a new picture up," Houk said.
The displays also raise awareness about the needs of foster children," said Houk.
Houk added that if you're not able to adopt, the organization is always in need of volunteers and especially photographers to donate their time for the photo shoots that change lives.
"I never realized how essential it was to have parents," said Bungo-French, "until I had parents."