By: Shauna Snover
The Coalition of Adoption and Foster Family Agencies recently put together the second annual Heart Gallery of Western New York. The agency hopes the exhibit will make the community aware of foster care and adoption, said Christa Bebak, a social worker with Erie County Family Courts and spokesperson for CAFFA.
The exhibit featured professional photographs of foster children who are looking for a permanent home. Over 50 photographs were showcased in the February exhibit at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center.
Along with the photographs, there were short bios on each of the children, intended for patrons and prospective parents to get insight into that child’s needs and personality. The Heart Gallery exhibit lets people see a different side of foster care children.
“There is a stigma attached to foster care,” Bebak said.
CAFFA said that 38 percent of kids featured in the Heart Gallery of 2006 were either adopted or placed in an adoptive home. The figures for 2007 will not be in until the end of the year.
Here are some statistics on local foster care, provided by CAFFA:
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there are 1677 children in foster care in the eight counties of WNY
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474 of these children have the goal of adoption (the remainder of the children in foster care are not legally freed for adoption)
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47 percent of children who want to be adopted are 10 years or older
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51 percent are male, 49 percent are female
CAFFA, an agency unique to WNY, is involved with:
It is estimated that about five to 15 people per day visited the exhibit, Tom Holt said, preparator at Burchfield-Penney. It was difficult to put an exact number on how many people attended the exhibit, he said, since it was located in a hallway outside of the museum. Two receptions were also held with about 150 people attending.
“The exhibit can be a better first step as opposed to just walking into an office,” Holt said.
Burchfield-Penney, a regional arts museum that stresses “Buffalo solidarity,” wanted to be a part of the Heart Gallery because of the emphasis on the region, Holt said. Everyone involved in the exhibit are from WNY, including the photographers who volunteer their time and services to be a part of the gallery.
This year’s exhibit was much different than last year’s. Some of the children who were featured last year and who were matched for adoption were again in this year’s show. Their photographs were marked with a red heart to let the viewer know that progress has been made in their case. There were also new photographs of “finalization day,” capturing the moments during which adoptions become official.
The exhibit will travel to other host sites in WNY throughout the duration of 2007. The exhibit will be at Discover Artworks located in Mayville in Chautauqua County in May.
Ten photographs from the gallery will also be traveling to New York City during March for the annual Conference of Chief Justices. This year’s focus is on children. The photographs that were chosen are a representative sample of the children in foster care, Bebak said.
Contact Shauna Snover at snovst13@mail.buffalostate.edu
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