Heart Gallery promotes adoption of older children

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jun 10, 2006 | by Allison Louie, STAFF WRITER

A portrait of a smiling 18-year-old Breanna adorns the hall of San Francisco's One Market building. The picture shows an animated young woman with a full life ahead of her.

There's just one thing missing -- a family.

Since being separated from her parents four years ago, Breanna has been in and out of four group homes. She has not heard from her mother in years, and her father, who lives in Reno, calls sporadically, usually when he needs to borrow twenty bucks.

2005: The Year in Photos

This week the Bay Area Heart Gallery opened its roving photo exhibit of foster care children up for adoption in San Francisco. Nearly every county in the Bay Area, from Alameda to San Mateo, participate in the exhibit. The following are photos of children waiting for a good home. [Photo Gallery]

Teenage Breanna is one of just many kids featured in a poignant photo exhibit that dismisses the misconception that only babies need adoption. The Bay Area Heart Gallery opened in San FranciscoMonday and displays the faces of more than 50 foster children and youth who are awaiting a permanent home. The goal of the traveling exhibition, which was most recently in Oakland, is to place these children in loving families as well as make the public aware of the ever- present need for adoptive homes. The exhibition makes its way to San Mateo County in October.

"I've heard it said that 'dimples are cuter than pimples,'" said Sue Ferren, the Foster Parent Liaison for San Mateo County. "We need more homes for teenagers."

More than 55 professional photographers have donated their time to the Bay Area Heart Gallery with the hope that these pictures will change a child's life.

"Have you ever seen the usual adoption pictures? They look like mug shots," said Robin Fryday, the Heart Gallery's co-chair and photographer. "The photographers for this project really capture something special about the child, their personality, their spirit."

There's 12-year-old Nelson and his brother Antoine, 9. Antoine's smile goes ear-to-ear in his photo. Nelson says in his bio that he hopes to "be a superstar, who had a family." And there's Wilson, 2, with an open-mouthed grin and friendly eyes.

"The child welfare system is broken in California," said Fredi Juni, an Alameda County social service agent and also co-chair of the Heart Gallery. "It is underfunded and under-resourced and social workers aren't able to build lasting connections."

Theoretically, foster care was intended as a temporary respite for at-risk children coming from abusive or negligent households, said Juni. But realistically, many children are not able to go back home, being forced to grow up in the foster system, and in many cases, moving from foster home to foster home.

Though there have been more than 60 Heart Galleries across the nation, the Bay Area Heart Gallery promotes youth permanency, an alternative to adoption that connects older youth in foster care to a committed adult. The roles of these mentors range from providing secure parenting and ongoing support to the youth to simply being someone to share holidays and special occasions with.

"Once these youths turn 18, [when government funding ends-- they are off in the world on their own," said Juni. "But most of us know from experience, we're not independent at age 18. We need support for the rest of our lives."

In San Mateo County, there are more than 450 foster children, and according to Ferren, it is most difficult finding foster homes for the county's older youth.

In addition to photographs of kids in need of homes, the Heart Gallery features portraits of diverse families who have already taken the step to adopt. Older couples, gay and lesbian couples, as well as single parents with their new families are photographed.

Glenn Motola and his partner Mark Walden adopted a gorgeous little girl six years ago. They live on a farm, and every Saturday morning, "adopt" a new animal, teaching their daughter about adoption and expressing the deep love they have for her.

"I'm a psychologist," Motola said, "and I don't even understand that kind of emotion."

Allison Louie can be reached at (650)348-4357 or alouie@sanmateocountytimes.com.