The Heart Gallery: Helping Children in Need!
Heart Gallery New York is a unique, not-for-profit organization that combines the artistic talents of notable photographers with children who are in need of a family and place to call home. Our goals are to raise awareness about children and youth living in foster care and to make a positive difference in their lives through adoption, fostering, mentoring, or internships.
Photographers involved in the Heart Gallery project volunteer their talents by shooting portraits that help capture the individuality and spirit of each child. The pictures are then displayed in traveling gallery exhibits and via the Web, in the hope that prospective parents will be moved to open their hearts and homes through adoption.
The Heart Gallery was originally founded in 2001 in New Mexico by the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department. In January 2005, a Parade article about the project touched the hearts of millions of readers, resulting in a virtual explosion of Heart Gallery groups across America, where over 100,000 foster children are waiting to be adopted.
Later coverage included People, the Today Show, CNN, The View, USA Weekend, The New York Times and 20/20. What began as a local adoption recruitment program in New Mexico has now spread to more than 80 cities across the United States. There are currently nearly 100 Heart Galleries throughout the nation. Thousands of children have been adopted as a direct result of Heart Gallery exhibitions.
Exhibits have been presented on Capitol Hill in DC, in Times Square, Grand Central, Penn Station, the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak Station, LaGuardia and numerous other locations. We host annual Match Parties where prospective adoptive parents and foster care youth can meet and make potential matches. We invite you to join the Heart Gallery Team, and help make a difference in the life of a child! Please visit our websites to view the children’s photos and for additional information, please visit www.heartgallerynyc.org and www.heartgallerynewyork.org
