Miami Kids Primp To Find Forever Homes

MIAMI, FL — They primped and gussied and spiffed, moving from the makeup station to the hair station and over to several racks of new clothes. They struck poses for professional photographers with the hope that all of this might change their young fortunes. These Miami kids simply wanted to find forever homes.

"We do the photo shoots once, sometimes twice a year. It depends on how many children there are in the foster care system who are available for adoption," explained Emily Cardenas of The Children's Trust Miami Heart Gallery during a recent photo shoot at HistoryMiami Museum on Flagler Street.

Photos and bios of the latest group of 16 to 18 children will be posted on MiamiHeartGallery.Org over the next month or so where they will hopefully be spotted by prospective parents looking to expand their families.

"You have a way to look at these children, read about them, listen to their stories because we have videos with them. They are interviewed on camera," Cardenas told Patch. "You have a way to sort of immerse yourself and look at these children before you even have to pick up the phone. And so, what happens is parents who are seeking adoption are looking at the Heart Gallery. They find a child or two who interest them, either because of their age or because of their personality, or whatever — gender — and they fill out a little form online."

The program is a loving collaboration among The Children's Trust, Our Kids of Miami-Dade and Monroe as well as professional photographers, beauticians and local makeup artists from the Miami area who donate their services. Neat Stuff (www.neatstuffhelpskids.org) gave the children new clothes to wear in their photo shoots. Pollo Tropical served up complimentary lunches for the children and volunteers.

"You have children who have been removed by force from their biological parents for reasons of abuse or neglect. They end up in the child welfare system as wards of the state. They go into the foster care system," explained Cardenas.

There are more than 500 children in Miami-Dade County’s foster care system who are available for adoption around the Miami area and Florida Keys. Since the Miami Heart Gallery debuted in 2009, roughly half of the featured children have either been adopted or are in the process of being adopted.

Previous photo shoots were held at the University of Miami, Wynwood Walls, Marlins Park, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Biltmore Hotel, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, Pinecrest Gardens, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, South Beach Art Deco District and Coconut Grove Arts Festival.

Flora Beal of Our Kids said that the Miami Heart Gallery has even found homes for children who are traditionally more difficult to place.

"Children that are part of sibling groups, children that are eight years or older are often more difficult to place and also children who have some type of physical or disability that they are coping with," said Beal. They even placed a family of five siblings, which organizers now affectionately refer to as their "miracle."

Some of the children come from families with substance abuse problems, domestic violence or health issues. Others come from impoverished families that simply can't afford to take care of them.

Nine-year-old Tamara was coloring as she waited to have her photograph taken. She said she enjoys art and playing on cell phones.

"I want to be a lawyer because they make a lot of money," declared Tamara, who also has a four-year-old sister.

As far as her forever family is concerned, she simply wants them to be "nice."

Garnet Esters remembers helping to find a home for a girl named Angelina three years ago and how it has changed the little girl's life.

"She made the principal’s honor roll for the first time. When she arrived she couldn’t spell her name," recalled Esters. "She didn’t recognize her letters. She was two grades behind. She was on medicine and now she is doing just fine."

The Children’s Trust Miami Heart Gallery is modeled after the inaugural Heart Gallery, which was launched in 2001 in New Mexico at the suggestion of a Santa Fe photographer and adoptive mother.

Miami-based photographer Janeris Marte volunteered to take photos for the Miami Heart Gallery for the first time a few years ago. She has been coming back ever since.

"It must have planted a seed because a few years later I did the paperwork to become a foster parent," she said with a chuckle. "All together, I fostered about 13 kids and then was able to adopt two of them."

Howie Sonnenschein was also volunteering his photo talents for the second straight year.

"I did it last year and out of decades of shooting pictures this is the most important thing that I’ve ever done," he explained. "It’s the first time in my life I feel that when I’m clicking the button it can change someone’s life."

To learn more about adopting a foster child, call Our Kids at 305-455-6241 or send an email to bealf@ourkids.us. The Children's Trust has a dedicated source of revenue established by voter referendum to improve the lives of children and families in Miami-Dade County.

"Every child that gets adopted through the Heart Gallery is a touching case because these are kids that are removed from their biological parents," added Cardenas. "Think about how traumatic that could possibly be."

Visit the Children's Trust Miami Heart Gallery online at miamiheartgallery.org. To find a heart gallery elsewhere in the United States click here.

Photo gallery by Paul Scicchitano