Heart Gallery displays photos of Ind. foster children

Eleven portraits of Indiana foster kids are displayed at the entrance of Bloomington Meadows Hospital.

The faces belong to only a few of the 300 foster children currently in Indiana who need a home.

The pictures are part of the Indiana Heart Gallery, a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Department of Child Services which raises awareness for foster children. The first gallery originated in New Mexico, and there are now more than 120 in the nation.

Professional photographers take the pictures.

The Bloomington Meadows Hospital, a behavioral treatment center for children, adolescents and adults, started featuring the exhibit April 15, and it will be on display until April 27. Viewing hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.  Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. This is the third year the hospital has had the Gallery.

“The Gallery certainly puts real faces on the sometimes abstract category of ‘foster’ kids,” DCS Communications Director Rich Allen said in an email.

Allen said during the last fiscal year, 14 children were removed from the Indiana Heart Gallery and were put into “permanency” plans — an independent living arrangement or a pre-adoptive home.

“The child welfare system has, for the most part, been regulated by confidentiality laws,” Allen said. “Showing pictures of kids who have been abused or neglected and are available for adoption, like the Heart Gallery does, is a relatively new, ground-breaking idea.”

Hospitals are a popular setting for the exhibits to be displayed because people have spare time while they’re waiting to see a loved one or are taking a break from an extended stay in a family member’s room, he said.

“Because we serve so many children through the services we provide, it is only natural that we would want to do all we can to help them find a home,” said Maranda Richardson, business development director for Bloomington Meadows Hospital.

“We’ve had a lot of different foster parents that come through our doors,” Richardson said .

Terry Comstock, who owns TEC Photography in Bloomington, took one of the portraits and has been on call to take Heart Gallery photos for no charge. 

“A lot of these children have had a really hard time,” he said. “It’s sad for them to be in a situation where they need a new home.”