A Texas nonprofit is continuously doing something good to address the critical need for adoption in North Texas. There is an even brighter spotlight during November, as it is National Adoption Month.
Heart Galleries of Texas helps children in foster care find permanent homes in a unique way. They use powerful photography to tell each child’s story, connecting them with caring families. They recently received millions in state funding to continue their mission in Texas.
“We were so lucky that this past legislative session we received $12 million to start heart gallery programs based on a model outside of Central Texas to replicate across the state,” Kori Gough, Heart Galleries of Texas Director said.
Since 2014, the Central Texas Heart Gallery has helped 400 children get adopted and they have a big goal for next year as well.
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“This all started 25 years ago when a young woman who was a foster parent really was seeing these groups being stuck in foster care. She came up with this concept of using the power of photography to help,” Gough said.
She said these pictures show the personality of the child, it's not just a headshot and it really makes all the difference.
“There are 5,000 kids in the state of Texas that are available for adoption. Of those 5,000, about 1,500 have been identified as needing extra recruitment. So, we want to have all those kids in a heart gallery program because we want to increase their adoption rates incredibly. This is for those children who are spending quite a bit of time in foster care. They are growing up; they are in need of a home to call their own.”
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Gough said they have seen a big increase in adoption rates over the past decade.
“We now have 11 heart galleries, which include some in Dallas/Fort Worth. The more we can do it, the more children will be visible, and the more children we can get adopted,” Gough said.
Current locations in North Texas include the National Life Group - Professional Building in Addison, Stonebriar Mall in Frisco, Hulen Mall in Fort Worth, Town East Mall in Mesquite, The Parks Mall in Arlington, Metropolitan YMCAs on the west side of the region.
