The Heart Gallery uses professional photographers to capture the child’s spirit, bringing to life their personalities.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Every day, more than four thousand children in Texas wait for a family to adopt them, according to Child Protective Services.
Some of these children have spent years in the foster care system. This is why one initiative in North Texas is working hard to bring these children’s stories to the forefront in a way that words cannot.
One photo can change a life! That’s the motto of The Heart Gallery of North Texas.
“We’ve been taking photographs of these children forever and the fact that they weren’t professional and beautiful photographs was kind of an injustice to these children,” said Tanya Houk with the Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth.
Houk is responsible for bringing the Heart Gallery to North Texas. There are these types of galleries all over Texas and the U.S. that feature children who need a loving and caring family.
“We’re a country of blended families and we need to honor that and respect that. I believe in the world of adoption, and I think it’s a viable way to get a family,” said Houk.
The Heart Gallery uses professional photographers to capture the child’s spirit, bringing to life their personalities.
“We do find volunteer professional photographers that can take photographs of these children and make them look their very best. And then the gallery is out in the public,” Houk said.
Anyone can offer to host a Heart Gallery, like the one WFAA visited at the Parks Mall in Arlington.
“This is kind of a surprise for people going shopping or going to the courthouse or going to their insurance company and they’re like ‘oh wow, I didn’t know that. I didn’t know there were children available for adoption?’ said Houk about the far-reaching effects of the portraits.
If you build the space, Houk and the Heart Gallery of North Texas will fill it with photographs of foster children, many of whom are at risk of aging out of the system without a family.
“They need love. They need a family,” she said, adding that her team needs your support to help more children.
“To help, to get involved, to understand that there’s children, thousands of children in the DFW area who are available for adoption,” she urged.
For foster children, time is of the essence and The Heart Gallery of North Texas hopes the power of a portrait will help the more than four thousand children across Texas who dream of parents who will find and adopt them.
“We’re working for you,” she said. “We care about you. We want to make a difference in your life. And we want to find permanency so that you can have a childhood and a stable adulthood.”
The Heart Gallery of North Texas is presented by the Gladney Center for Adoption. For more information on how to help, contact Tanya Houk at Tanya.Houk@Gladney.org or call her at 817-922-6000
