Who We Are
The Heart Gallery of New Mexico Foundation provides financial support to encourage adoption and ensure that no youth in New Mexico leaves foster care without a promise for a future.
Private/Public Partnership: The Heart Gallery of New Mexico Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, enjoys a public/private partnership with New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD). The Foundation supplements under-funded and under-staffed state programs through distribution of funds and services with flexibility and spontaneity.
History: The Foundation takes its name from Heart Gallery™ exhibitions founded in 2001 by New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD) Event Specialist, Diane Granito and New Mexican photographer, Cathy Maier Callanan. For these exhibitions, displayed throughout the state, New Mexican photographers captured the personality of older foster children. The first Heart Gallery exhibition was held at the Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe. Six children were adopted as a result of the first opening, including a sibling group of three. Five African-American siblings were adopted after their photograph was seen at the Ruidoso exhibition of the 2003 Heart Gallery.
In 2006, concerned citizens formed a statewide Board to take a stand on the alarming increase in and needs of the foster-child population in New Mexico. The Foundation is not an adoption service. Through fundraising and advocacy, it supports new and existing programs and organizations, both government and private, allowing them to serve more children more fully, promptly, and effectively.
The Heart Gallery of New Mexico Foundation fills the void that exists in New Mexico - to assist marginalized, at-risk foster children. No other organization has the depth or breadth of support for adoption or services for foster children in the custody of CYFD. The Foundation and CYFD enjoy a public/private partnership to address these issues.
Focus: HGNMF focuses on “hard-to-place” foster children: pre-teens, teens, siblings, and the mildly disabled (ages 11-21). For these youth fostering could extend for years while living with multiple families, changing schools and attachments with each move.
The Needs: At any one time, there are 2,500 children in the custody of New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD). Half of these children return home, others live with family members, the remaining enter foster care. By federal standards, New Mexico ranks 47th out of the states in overall child well-being.
The numbers are fluid, however, as many as 700 of these youth leave or “emancipate” from the foster care system annually. They must prepare for the next stage of life, adulthood, still with no family. More statistics…
By nature of life circumstances, many teens suffer behavioral problems due to family drug abuse, violence, and divided families. Too often they experience attachment disorders exacerbated by living with many families during custody, changing schools and attachments with each move. Adoption is an unlikely option for teens; the older a child gets and the longer they stay in foster care the less likely they are to be adopted.
Many youth leave the system at 18. HGNMF programs encourage teens to exercise their option to continue working with CYFD until they are 21 to receive benefits, including transitional/independent living, education, Medicare, etc. To help stabilize lives for a productive adulthood, a need exists to provide private funds to supplement the state’s limited resources.
Partnerships: The Foundation partners with New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD); Friends of Foster Children Fund; CASA, (Child Appointed Youth Advocates); AML Foundation (Adoption Means Love), and other organizations to serve foster children.
HGNMF Board and Directors: 2008 Board Members
Frequently Asked Questions: Answers to our most frequently asked questions.
Who We Are | What We Do | Supporters/Donors
How You Can Help | Event Calendar | Photo Album| Links | Contact | Home