Foster Children Partake In Exhibit To Find Loving Homes
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A group of children looking for loving homes, may get their wish thanks to an annual South Florida exhibit meant to connect them to families.
But to make the Children's Trust Miami Heart Gallery happen, it takes plenty of volunteers.
Marlins Park was converted into a makeup studio, and hair salon for nearly 40 children currently in foster care but hoping to find a forever family.
Award-winning photographers volunteered to take picture of the children - pictures that would be shown alongside video interviews for the online exhibit - all to help them find a family.
"Its an amazing tool for people thinking about adoption to look at all these children and consider one of them," said Emily Cardenas with the Children's Trust.
Children like 12-year old Santana said a family would mean the world to him.
"Like a family that would care about me, be respectful and willing to do stuff for me," said Santana.
Michael is a good student but might be even better with the right family.
"I like math. I like to play football," said Michael who says he wants "a good family that is nice and helpful."
The exhibit is a product of a partnership between the The Children's Trust and Our Kids of Miami-Dade/Monroe, Inc., the local lead agency for child welfare in Miami and the Keys.
The children exhibited are just some of the more than 1,500 foster children that are up for adoption in Miami and the Keys, according to the state of Florida.
"Its really important for these kids to get adopted. These are children that have been removed from their family for either abuse or neglect so they have been through a lot and so they need a family so they can become happy young adults and have futures," said Cardenas.
According to exhibit organizers, half of the children who have been featured in the yearly exhibition have been adopted or are in the process of being adopted.
The portraits taken on Wednesday will go on the Miami Heart Gallery website in early January. Hopefully, potential families will take a look and make a connection.
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