Saline County Library to Feature Heart Gallery of Pulaski County | Families

The Heart Gallery of Pulaski County will display photos/profiles of children in need of adoption all day Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3 at Herzfeld Library in Benton and Friday and Saturday, March 9 and 10 at Boswell Library in Bryant. The display will be open for viewing in the meeting room at both locations during regular library hours.

The mission of the Heart Gallery of Pulaski County and Heart Galleries across the state is to introduce waiting children to prospective adoptive families and to familiarize potential families with the concept of adopting older children, sibling groups and/or children with special needs. A new statewide initiative called Project Zero will utilize the Heart Gallery as one of several ways to raise awareness of the need for adoptive families, to build relationships with waiting children and ultimately help connect children with their forever families.

“We want to find the right family for every child,” said Christie Erwin, co-executive director of Project Zero and author of The Middle Mom, a family’s personal adoption story. “These kids are so deserving of that, many of them enduring more at their age than any of us ever will in a lifetime.”

Erwin added that there have been many great stories to come from the Heart Gallery of Pulaski County and others, including the placement of several sibling groups but that the goal is to have none of the 500 foster children in Arkansas waiting for a placement.

The Heart Gallery of Pulaski County and Project Zero is a collaborative effort between community partners and the Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Children and Family Services. More information regarding Project Zero will be available soon at www.theprojectzero.org.
For more information regarding the Heart Gallery display at either library call 778-4766. For additional information about Arkansas children in need of adoption, visit https://dhs.arkansas.gov/dcfs/heartgallery/index.htm.

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