Poignant Portraits

Those faces. Full of hope. With deep, expressive eyes, in a variety of hues. Brown, like luminous orbs of chocolate. Green, the shade of spring clover. 

“I don’t remember exactly where I saw photographs of all these children. It was a mall, I think. But I do remember the effect those photos had on me,” says Ashlee, 44, a family pastor, who was captivated by the faces staring back at her from plain-woven canvases.

She’d stumbled upon an exhibit by Heart Gallery of Greater Houston, an array of portraits of foster children needing homes. The gallery – operated under the non-profit organization BEAR (an acronym for BE A Resource) – is on a mission to connect adoption-available children, at-risk and under Children Protective Services, with stable, loving families. It sets up exhibits, permanent and temporary, in a variety of venues, within Harris and its 12 surrounding counties. 

Pumpkins and little munchkins on the couch make for a fun fall scene. From left: Siblings K.J., Kynlee, and Knox were adopted together by mom Ashlee. (Photo: Kelly Gebhart of Gebhart Photography)

An estimated 6,000 youth in the Texas foster care system are eligible for adoption, according to the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and Heart Galleries of Texas. About 1,500 are older youth, sibling groups, or those with complex medical or behavioral needs. Those are the ones that the gallery focuses on. Research shows that they only have a 1 percent chance of being adopted before aging out of the foster care system. But if a professional photograph is taken of that same child, and exhibited in a public space, their chances for permanent placement shoot to 60 percent.

This month, National Adoption Month, is a reminder that every child deserves a forever family, say Heart Gallery workers.

“I looked at those pictures and read about how these kids were waiting for a family and thought ‘This can’t be!’ I was like, ‘Wait! There are kids who need a family right here in our community? Right in our own backyard?’” recalls Ashlee, who requested that her last name not be used. “All I had really known about adoption was that people spent a significant amount of money to adopt from overseas. I felt like the Lord was telling me, ‘You need to become a foster parent.’”

Ashlee, single, was perfectly happy. She had a full life, her friends, a job she loved. But that spark was lit. So, she set about getting her license to foster. 

Meredith Marshall, BEAR’s board president, stands before a sea of photos, all children who have been successfully adopted after their photographs were exhibited by Heart Gallery of Greater Houston.

In short order, she opened her home. First, to a 2-month-old baby boy, who was eventually placed with a relative, and then, to a brother and sister, 6 and 7, who were with her a year and a half before being reunited with parents after a carefully monitored transition period.

“I loved the experience. But having those two foster experiences back-to-back, I just assumed I’d take a break for a while,” she says.

Then came a phone call. “My caseworker said she had a colleague who had a case I needed to look at. She kept saying to me, ‘You need to talk to my colleague. These kids need to come to your house.’” A set of three siblings.

K.J., now 7, was the first that Ashlee took in, a 2-year-old at the time. He was followed by his brother, Knox, and sister Kynlee, who were 15 months and a newborn. They are now 5 and 4, respectively. “I call them my K Team,” she chirps.

So, in the middle of a global pandemic, when the world shut down, Ashlee opened up. She became a family of four, mom to a tenacious trio, all under the age of 3. 

A Heart Gallery of Greater Houston exhibit at Memorial City Mall features children who are available for adoption.

In November of 2021, they stood before a judge, all chipper in smiles, as the magistrate declared them a family. Ashlee had adopted her K Team. 

“It’s crazy and wild and I drive a messy minivan, but I just can’t imagine if I hadn’t said ‘yes’ to all of this. It’s why I love Heart Gallery so much, especially trying to get siblings adopted together. There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not watching my kids together, even if it’s fighting with each other, and I think to myself, ‘They might not have ever known each other.’ What a real tragedy that would have been.”

“It’s important that we provide an experience of unconditional love in a family to each and every child that we can,” says Merri Hahn, community outreach and Heart Gallery manager. “The key to getting these kids to relax so we can capture those beautiful smiles is to do something fun, whether it’s taking them to the park or something individual, something a child is interested in. A lot of times we will get with the caseworker ahead of time and find out what that is.

“We were asked by the Department of Family and Protective Services to take on this initiative,” Hahn continues. “BEAR has been in existence for 27 years and it was the perfect organization to oversee this.”

Since the gallery’s official launch in September 2021, 108 children have been permanently placed through various avenues – adoption, kinship and/or guardianship, or reunification with parents. “We’ve been lucky to see a number of siblings adopted together,” Hahn says. 

Lily, all about play in this photograph featured in a Heart Gallery exhibit, is hoping for a forever home. (Photo: Partnerships for Children)

Heart Gallery also has Match Parties where children in the foster care system can connect with licensed families who are interested in adopting.

The outlook is bleak for those who age out of the foster care system, starting adulthood with no support. Approximately 60 percent are jailed within the first year, 70 percent are pregnant or parenting by age 21, 50 percent battle substance abuse, and 40 percent end up homeless within that first year, states Hahn.

West University resident Barbara Perlick, a volunteer photographer for Heart Gallery, winces at these statistics. “You just feel for these children. You so desperately want them to find their forever family,” she says. Perlick tries to tell the child’s story through her portraits, taking them on an adventure of sorts. 

“Being able to tell about them, their interests, is important. I had this one boy who really loves boxing. I know a professional boxer and called him up. I bought this child some boxing gloves and we went to the gym, and they had a great time.”

Former professional boxer Lou Savarese of Braeswood was happy to host the sparring event. “I was easy on him. I let him hit me a few times,” cracks Savarese, of the child, 11 at the time. He keeps in touch with the boy, who was later adopted by a relative.

“Just imagine if all of these kids had a chance,” he says. “I grew up, coming from the best. I had everything I needed. Maybe not everything I wanted, but everything I needed. Family was number one. That’s what you want for every kid.”

Meredith Marshall, board president of BEAR, can’t imagine a more important goal than finding a child a home.

BEAR sponsors several programs to support foster children: BEAR Necessities provides clothing, toys, diapers, hygiene items, etc.; BEARing Gifts serves 26,000 children in the Greater Houston area through its holiday drive (which also offers the option to sponsor a child for the holidays); BEAR Back to School serves more than 16,000 with school items.

Siblings Alizea, Devon, Davian, and Julian are a stair-step quartet in this canvas portrait, displayed by Heart Gallery. Heart Gallery often features sibling sets to be adopted together. (Photo: Scenes by Christian)

Adding Heart Gallery of Greater Houston to BEAR’s program lineup was a gamechanger, says Marshall. “We have all kinds of services to help in crisis situations, but when these kids are basically starting over, what could be better than giving them a forever home? The gallery means so much for children who have been released of all parental control and are available for adoption. Their pictures really spike adoption rates.”

Marshall hosted a party at her River Oaks home last fall, an educational event attended by donors and others, introducing them to the concept of Heart Gallery. 

The Texas First Lady, Cecilia Abbott, spoke at the event, as did proud adoptive mom, Ashlee. Abbott’s team, the Governor’s Commission for Women, rallied for the Heart Gallery concept, cheerleading for it in the legislature, leading to its funding.

In 2023, Texas committed $12 million to expand the gallery model across the state and provide extensive post-adoption support for these permanent placement families, like resources for counseling and therapy.

“Post-adoption funding is being rolled out now,” says Marshall. “That’s a very important piece of all of this. Life happens, so you want to set up these children and their families for success. You don’t want a situation where a child is adopted, then reintroduced into the foster care system. That would be an absolute fail.” 

Taking down a portrait because a child is permanently placed “is the best feeling in the world,” says Memorial resident Kendall Pierce, a Heart Gallery outreach coordinator who works with exhibit venues. “It makes my day, my month, my year,” she says, “especially when some of the older kiddos and sibling groups get a home.”

Adoptive parent Ashlee, mom to that formidable “K Team,” thinks back to seeing those children’s portraits in a mall those years ago.

“What’s so powerful about Heart Gallery is that it’s a reminder that these are our kids. This is going on right here. And if we don’t do something, what’s going to happen? People sometimes say, ‘I could never be a foster parent.’ But there are so many things you can do. So many people helped make it possible for me to do this, by bringing meals or dropping off kid clothes when theirs outgrew them. The Heart Gallery and BEAR brings all these things to people’s minds. They remind us that there are ways to help. There’s something all of us can do.”

On a recent night, her kids fast asleep, Ashlee tended to laundry and spoke of her messy minivan life with her brown-eyed, brown-haired trio. It was a busy day with busy kids. But she wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

“I’m exhausted, in a good way,” she quips. “This is the life that I never knew that I always wanted.”

Finding that Forever Home

Heart Gallery’s first exhibit of foster children’s portraits, held at Minute Maid Park in October 2021, resulted in 26 adoptions within a year, says volunteer photographer Barbara Perlick. “That’s the power of these exhibits.”

“Some of our [Astros] players through the years have really appreciated BEAR as an organization, what they do for children and families,” says Marian Harper, Vice President of Foundation Development, Player Engagement and Family Relations, who helps manage programs and fundraising for the Astros Foundation. “So, we just have continued to work with them after that first display of the Heart Gallery here, whether it’s charity tickets or donations for auction items.”

A portion of the proceeds from the Astros’ Champions for Healthy Families Lunch and Fashion Show in September was donated to Heart Gallery, she says. “The wives of Astros players modeled. We’re all about promoting healthy families. This is a great way to do it.”

Permanent exhibits around the area include local malls such as Baybrook, Deerbrook, First Colony, and Willowbrook; 33 locations of Tide Cleaners, and Museum of Illusions Houston. Some current exhibits include Houston Improv at the Marq’e Entertainment Center, iTouchDiamonds, Memorial City Mall, and Red Dessert Dive, as well as a digital display showing at CityCentre. 

For a full list of exhibit locations and ways to help through donations, volunteering, or hosting a Heart Gallery exhibit, visit heartgalleryhouston.org/get-involved/visit-an-exhibit/.  

Editor’s note: The Buzz Magazines has permission from BEAR to publish the photos of foster children in this article; these children are legally available for adoption (as of when this issue went to press).