TERRE HAUTE —
The faces of Indiana’s orphans greet Terre Haute congregations, hopeful for a home.
Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church and Maryland Community Church share turns hosting the Heart Gallery this month. Part of the Indiana Department of Child Services’ traveling exhibit, the work seeks to raise awareness about foster care while promoting individual children for placement.
Sunday morning, the traveling display met entrants at the door of Mount Pleasant’s sanctuary.
A large rotational display contains 2-foot by 3-foot color photographs of children such as Da’Jaion, Sylvester, Christian and Cara. Detailed information is provided about each and others wanting a “forever home.”
The display remains at the church on East Davis Drive through Sunday, when it moves to Maryland Community Church on Indiana 46 through March 8.
Jenny Kocher and her husband Chris coordinate Mount Pleasant’s orphan ministry, and the adoptive mother of two African children said they’re working to achieve status as foster parents, too. Standing next to an overflowing food drive barrel, Kocher said the orphan outreach program is more than a year old at the church and works to support children in the DCS system.
“We’re working on a list right now,” she said, explaining the volume of blankets, baby formula, and gently-used clothing items they’re assembling for children in need.
In conjunction with the Heart Gallery program, the church is hosting an “Advocacy and Awareness Week” regarding orphans, opening its doors at 6 p.m. today for a building-wide prayer meeting. Multiple prayer stations throughout the sanctuary will be operated as special prayers go out to at-risk families and suffering children, she said. Tomorrow night, a showing of the film “Invisible Children” will be hosted in the church. The film highlights the plight of children in northern Uganda who have been abducted and forced to fight with rebel forces.
“We want to be a voice,” she said of children in need.
And there would seem to be substantial need here at home. According to information provided by the DCS, about 408,000 American children live in foster care, with at least 100,000 legally available for adoption. Each year, nearly 20,000 young people leave the foster care system without lifelong families.
DCS spokesman Rich Allen said that as of November, 101 children in Vigo County were in foster care, though not all were seeking adoption. Statewide, some 300 foster care children are awaiting adoption.
Indiana’s Heart Gallery was created in 2007, inspired by similar programs across the country, Allen said.
“The idea started back in 2001 in the state of New Mexico,” he said.
Professional photographers volunteer their services to create portraits of children particularly tough to place. Teenagers, the disabled, and sibling groups are among those often left behind when people volunteer to take in children, Allen noted.
In addition to the large, color portraits, each child featured has an index card with their picture and personal data, as well an identification number and contact information regarding potential placement.
On one such card, an outgoing and funny young girl named “Cara” describes herself as friendly and willing to participate in activities. A poet and songwriter, she loves small children and animals, especially cheetahs and dolphins, her information card states, adding she “has a dream of one day playing the clarinet.”
A boy named “Christian” likewise describes himself as friendly and easy-going. Readers of his card learn he enjoys playing football and basketball, fishing and reading mystery novels.
Nationally, 120 Heart Galleries tour each of the 50 states, moving between churches, hospitals and museums. Collectively, they’ve resulted in 5,000 adoptions.
Allen said the impact of seeing children’s faces is key to the success.
“One picture is worth 1,000 words,” he said, describing Indiana’s success with the program as stellar. Initial concerns about the children’s privacy were raised as New Mexico launched its pilot program, but the effectiveness was hard to dispute, Allen explained.
Terry Miller, owner of Moore Photography at Hulman and 25th streets in Terre Haute, got a taste of that last fall when one of the children he’d photographed for the program was picked for adoption.
“That made me feel pretty good,” he said of his volunteered efforts, adding he’s scheduled to participate again, as he has for the last two years.
The DCS matches photographers with individual children and allows the pair to get to know each other, Miller said. The photographer learns about the child’s likes and dislikes, then strives to create a portrait that conveys a little about their personality.
“Just to help people connect better with the children,” he said. “People hear about kids in the foster system but they don’t see them. When they can put a face to a name, it helps them understand.”
Portraits of shy children clinging to security blankets rest next to girls dressed like princesses and boys hugging dogs. Siblings also are photographed together.
Dan Gisel, director of connecting at Maryland Community Church, said his congregation is ready to receive the traveling exhibit and hopefully help place some needy children. One of the instructions issued by Jesus Christ is to care for widows and orphans, he pointed out.
“Our church, Maryland Community Church, and the church at large, one of the core values is to take care of those who are lost or hurting,” he said, adding he and his wife are in the process of becoming foster parents themselves. “If we can help with that in this small way, we’d love to do that.”
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
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