Promoting foster and adoption opportunities in communities across Texas

AUSTIN ─  First Lady Cecilia Abbott last night hosted the Governor’s Commission for Women at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin for a Heart Gallery of Central Texas portrait viewing and discussion on collaboration in support of foster and adoptive children and families across the state of Texas.

Among 11 regional Heart Galleries across Texas, the Heart Gallery of Central Texas is a program of Partnerships for Children in coordination with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). To promote foster and adoption opportunities, the community engagement initiative displays professional portraits in local communities of children who dream of finding a “forever family.” The Heart Gallery displays are combined with weekly local news segments to connect families interested in adoption with children in the care of DFPS and Child Protective Services. At the core of the foster and adoption outreach is a simple but powerful portrait of each child that says, “I am here. I am special.”

“As adoptive parents, the Governor and I know firsthand the immeasurable joy of being a forever family,” said First Lady Abbott. “That is why we believe so strongly in promoting adoption. Every child deserves to live a life of immense opportunity, but supporting foster and adoptive children and families is a bigger job than state government can do alone. It requires a Network of Nurture ― a community of individuals and families, friends, local leaders, nonprofit organizations, businesses, faith community members, and anyone willing to open their hands, their hearts, or their homes to children and families in need of permanence.

“As we celebrate May as Foster Care Month, I am excited to welcome the Governor’s Commission for Women to the Network of Nurture, and I look forward to partnering with them on further outreach programs as they engage in their communities all across this great state to promote and support foster and adoptive children and families.”