Heart Gallery spotlight at Pinellas Park meeting highlights adoption program and local success story

City Council heard a nonprofit spotlight on May 9 featuring the Heart Gallery program that recruits adoptive families for children in Pinellas and Pasco counties.

Hana Coward, communications manager for Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, described the Heart Gallery’s digital and physical displays and said the project partners with local case‑management organizations to refer children who need additional recruitment. She said the gallery features children who are ‘‘hardest to place’’ and explained that term is defined in state statute for older children, multi‑ethnic children or those with additional needs.

Rosemary Richardson, the Heart Gallery’s program director, read the organization’s mission and thanked the city for supporting community partnerships. She described a new ‘Heart Art’ option for children who prefer art instead of traditional photos to represent themselves in recruitment materials: "The Heart Gallery really helps home to me," Richardson said.

Noah Frankenberry, who said he and his partner adopted a child through the Heart Gallery, told the council the program gave his family a way to connect: "If we could take every kid, we would. I'm thankful that we got this opportunity," he said, and described how adoption changed his life and family.

Program representatives said the Heart Gallery has helped hundreds of local children since 2006 and invited residents to support recruitment and community events. The council acknowledged the presentation and welcomed the adoptive family to the meeting; no council action or funding decision followed directly from the presentation.