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Miami Heart Gallery Exhibit Brings Joy to Foster Kids

BY PARADISE AFSHAR
Special to The Miami Herald

When Nelson Pi walked through The Miami Heart Gallery and saw his photo hanging on the wall, he was happy that his photo served its purpose of finding him, and other foster children, a family.

''I'm getting adopted,'' said Nelson, 13. He knows a bit about his soon-to-be-parents. ``They have two daughters, both are in university -- one is living at home and the other is in Spain.''

The Miami Heart Gallery is a traveling exhibit that The Children's Trust started to match a few of the nearly 200 children who are currently in foster care in Miami-Dade County with a family.

''We had it in the Grove, at the airport, the Miami Art Museum and the Seaquarium,'' said Modesto Abety, president and CEO of The Children's Trust. ``We got 2,000 [visitors] at the airport and it was only there for about a month.''

Nelson is one of about 70 children who have their portraits hanging on the walls on the third floor of Hialeah City Hall for a month, starting on Dec. 12. The gallery is open free of charge from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

''I think it is important to promote adoption in the Hispanic community,'' said Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina. ``Hopefully it will open up the eyes of the residents of my city, and surrounding cities, that adopting these young men and women is something positive for our community.''

Since the gallery opened in June, nearly half of the children involved have been adopted or are in the process of being adopted.

Three of the children have also been adopted since the exhibit began, according to Emily Cardenas, senior communications manager at The Children's Trust, a funding source for children programs with the goal of improving the lives of children and families in the community.

Anthony, another child who is waiting for approval from Tallahassee to be adopted by his foster mother, Calribel Freire, attended the opening of the exhibit with his soon-to-be adoptive mother. Because of safety concerns, Children's Trust officials did not want Anthony's last name to be used.

''You have to feel like there is a chemistry. It doesn't matter how much you love the child, if there is no chemistry then it will not work,'' said Freire, 50, of Miami. ``He is obedient and he is very affectionate.''

Anthony, 14, said that he likes his new family and is already feeling as if he is a part of the family.

''He says that when he is older he will be the one taking care of me,'' Freire said.

Most of the photos in the exhibit are of children in Anthony's age group, between 11 and 15 years old, a period when adoption becomes harder.

''The little ones go easy, and when you get beyond 3 it becomes hard, beyond 8 is harder and teens are even harder,'' Cardenas said. ``There are a lot of people who don't want to start over with a baby, but a majority of people are looking for an infant.''

Other children who have their photographs on the walls include 10-year-old Felicity Jones, who has not been paired with a family.

During the opening reception, the City of Hialeah presented the 69 children who are in the portraits with $20 gift cards to Wal-Mart. Felicity, Nelson, Anthony and 15-year-old Patrix Edwards accepted their cards personally.

Felicity said she plans on buying herself Bratz dolls with her money.

''I like Jasmine, she is my favorite,'' she said.

In June the gallery will include new photographs of children in foster care.

Abety decided to bring the exhibit to Miami after seeing a similar event in Tampa put on by the Children's Board of Hillsborough County.

''We were able to get world-renowned fashion photographers to shoot these kids,'' Abety said. ``When you look at that, it captures the children's essence and soul and the love they are looking for. The quality of the photographs are outstanding.''

Editorial Note: Circumstances subsequent to the publication of this article have prevented the adoption of Nelson Pi from moving forward.