Wall-to-wall canvas prints of smiling foster youngsters greeted me when I met with Patsy Stills, executive director of the Heart Gallery of Pinellas and Pasco in the small, third-floor office on the corner of Fifth Avenue N and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street. A tall shelf contained even more canvases cataloged like books in a library: a lifetime of stories. During her tour, I paused to catch a vista of the highway branching like veins through the city.
The Road to Home
There is no simple road map for the adoption process, but the Heart Gallery of Pinellas and Pasco certainly provides navigation along this emotional journey, every step of the way. Heart Gallery focuses on the neediest of foster youths looking for a forever home: those with medical concerns, teenagers, and sibling groups. Stills said the hardest thing to see is foster youth age out of the system without ever finding a forever home.
Studies show that one in five youngsters who age out of the foster system will become homeless. This urgency sparked the original Heart Gallery in the first place. Nationally, the concept of using compelling photography to portray foster youths in their best light so they could secure an adoptive family began in New Mexico in 2001. The St. Petersburg affiliate launched in 2006 and has connected 359 youth with loving, forever families. You could adopt a local child every day of the calendar year and not meet the need.
Small But Mighty
Stills’ passion to fight for vulnerable youth brought her to the agency a year ago. She has a wealth of knowledge from the criminal- justice and child-welfare systems. She knew the preventative power of matching children with their forever families as soon as possible and took on the task of doing so for the most disadvantaged youth.
“Last year, seven foster youth aged out without being adopted,” she said. “That’s not okay.”
Stills wants to increase awareness of the Heart Gallery and the help it can offer to anyone interested in adoption.
Our local Heart Gallery is a small but mighty team of two. Stills is at the helm; Lexie Lindert, an adoptee herself, is the community liaison. Professional photographers volunteer their services and then their photos are displayed in areas throughout the city. Those who would otherwise not know the faces of need in the foster world are drawn into the cause by these lovely works of heart.
Stills has a keen skillset to get people plugged in wherever they are in their adoption journey – whether it be an informational session, parenting classes, or a home study. While time frames can vary, her motto is to “fall in love with the process.” Having experienced adoption, Lindert offers insights to families through formal support groups and more casual follow-up calls..
Adopting a Bigger Vision
Heart Gallery has dreams for much more. Grant-funded videos are able to capture even more personality of the youths. Stills illustrated her point by gesturing to a large canvas print of Joshua, a bespectacled youngster flexing his muscles and showing every tooth in his smile from his wheelchair. She explained that the picture didn’t quite convey Joshua’s unique personality, but a video created with some of his favorite Tampa Bay Rays baseball players sparked a connection with his forever family.
Help is needed; whether it be time or other resources. Partners who can host galleries in their storefront windows would increase exposure exponentially. Galleries can be temporary or permanent installments. Financing to cover printing and video costs also is also critical. The agency hosts private match and post-adoption events that need funding as well. These are a fun way for families to bond through shared experiences such as sporting events or theme parks. There are many ways to help: Host a third-party fundraiser, add the agency’s link to your website, volunteer your professional services, or consider opening your heart and home.
Happy Endings and New Beginnings
If a picture tells a thousand words, then two pictures can make those words into a beautiful story. My favorite part of the process is that after the match is made and youth find their forever homes, they are photographed again. This time they hold their original portraits, surrounded by their new, loving families. The joy in their eyes flashes like lightning captured in a bottle, a mere glimpse of their ties to their forever families.
To learn more about the Heart Gallery of Pinellas and Pasco contact Patsy Stills at (727) 258-4806 or visit heartgallerykids.org.
