Kids Need Love
Heart Gallery and Queens Center Mall help foster children

Heart Gallery NYC and Queens Center Mall have teamed up to hold an exhibition with the hopes of finding homes for some city foster children.
Since 2001, throughout the nation Heart Gallery has been using photographs of the children taken by professionals to increase awareness about those who need homes. However, the program has only been in New York City for a little more than a year.
“We work with the hardest to place kids. These are the kids that need families the most and these children are harder to place because they are older or in sibling groups,” said Heart Gallery NYC Executive Director Laurie Sherman Graff. “Some of them may have special needs, but the majority of them are just good kids who ended up with a tough break and need a second chance.”
Graff said that the children who become involved in the program are all legally free to be adopted. They also make sure that the children want to be in the exhibit and are comfortable with it.
The exhibition of 50 photographs, which made its debut in Manhattan in July, will be on display at Queens Center Mall through September 20.
“I’m really hopeful that the exhibition in Queens will get us the right people because it’s very family-oriented here,” Graff said. “Hopefully the right people will walk by and maybe get touched by the images and want to reach out.”
Queens Center Mall Marketing Manager Dawn Simon added, “Our goal is to really have connections between children who want to be adopted and those who want to adopt children.”
During the opening day of the exhibition, on Tuesday, August 21, five of the photographed foster children were treated to mini-makeovers and had their photos taken by professional portrait photographer Rod Goodman. One of the children, Jean, said that it felt great to have his photo taken and that the exhibition was good. He also said that he likes that people will be able to see his photo.
After seeing a segment on Heart Gallery NYC on NY1, Goodman contacted the organization to express his interest in volunteering his services. He said that it was something he knew he’d be able to do.
“Typically, when I do photographs, for instance with an actor, I’m trying to get them a picture they can use to get work. This is much bigger. This is taking pictures so people can see them and maybe adopt them,” Goodman said. “I would love to be a positive part of helping someone get a home. What’s better than that?”
The exhibition at Queens Center Mall, which is located at 90-15 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, is on display on the concourse level in the Macy’s Wing. For more information, visit www.shopqueenscenter.com.
More information is also available through Heart Gallery NYC, whose website is www.heartgallerynyc.org. They can also be reached by calling 212-965-8699.