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LEGEND PLUMBING & ROOTER Lic # ML-16126 830 • 303 •3335 B
By o you ht T g u ro
The Voice of Seguin Today
Volume 55 • Number 160 830 • 379 • 2234
Individuals encouraged to follow their heart to adoption
Portraits of children awaiting adoption now on display at various locations By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera (Seguin) – Children never outgrow a need for parents and parents never outgrow room in their hearts. Helping parents realize that extra room in their heart is the Heart Gallery of Bluebonnet Country. The traveling exhibit of individual portraits of children waiting to be adopted is currently being hosted locally thanks to a collaborative “endeavor” between the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and the Guadalupe County Child Welfare Board.
information we needed from CPS, from their caseworkers, the child’s name, the child’s age, what kind of family they liked or are interested in being adopted into and what their likes were and I got all that information together and we printed up these portraits that we had made. Basically, the idea is to get people thinking about it, to get those faces out there,” said Young.
Since January, the photographs have been displayed at various locations throughout Seguin and Guadalupe County. Tracy Young, one of the local coordinators for the Heart Gallery, says for the past eight months and even Portraits of these through the pandemic, volunteers have children awaiting featured these photos of kids who are adoption have been displayed at ready for a new home, new family and various locations. Current sites include new life. but are not limited to the Guadalupe County Justice Center and the Seguin “CPS is divided up in regions and we Public Library. are Region 8. The rural is Region 8 B so we took on this project – myself and Young says the group recently launched another Welfare Board member – over a a social media spotlight for each of the year ago and we applied for a grant with children who are in need of a home. the United Way of Guadalupe County She says one by one, the kids will be and they approved our grant and we introduced to local families in hopes of put everything in motion once we were pairing up the child with the right family approved for the funding and we got on its welfare board Facebook page. all the names of the children. It was 13 all together, 13 children. We got all the “It’s bringing these children that are
Kelly Wagner 830-832-3276
eligible for adoption out of the shadows and into the light. The portraits are to stir you and to reveal the child’s spirit and to give them the individuality that they need to help them find the homes that they are looking for. A lot of these children are older, nobody is under the age of five because of course, we know that babies get adopted pretty quickly. A lot of these children are special needs and of course have suffered some type of trauma within their lives. That’s why they are in the CPS system,” said Young. In hosting the Heart Gallery, Young hopes the effort will also help put to rest any myths about adoption. She says they want to show everyone that anyone can adopt. “Adopting is not as hard as people think it is. People are like ‘oh, I’m not married, I can’t adopt.’ Well, absolutely you can. They don’t turn around single parents. There are minimum requirements. You have to be 21 years of age or older, you have to be financially stable and you have to be a responsible mature adult. Same sex couples can adopt. They don’t turn them away. Elder people can adopt as well, and they are perfect matches for older children especially older teenagers. You never outgrow a need for parents and that’s so true,” said Young. Young says the group is committed to featuring this current set of children until they get the homes they deserve. She says the Heart Gallery is already showing that it works. See ADOPTION, page 3