Man hopes gallery will help foster children find homes
BY AIMEE CHOUINARD

Driving back from job training in Tampa last April, Jeremiah Guccione couldn't shake the images he'd seen -- 80 photographs in an exhibit -- all of foster children almost impossible to place in permanent homes.

Guccione was overcome with sadness as he viewed the pictures of smiling children with uncertain futures.

His own reaction showed that this way of portraying the foster children could increase their chances of finding a permanent home.

"These kids had nothing to do with the bad situations they were born into and I saw this was a new way that would work to get them out," the 29-year-old Siesta Key resident said.

Jeremiah Guccione, founder of Heart Gallery of Sarasota, poses with Herman, one of the children who is waiting to be adopted through the gallery. The gallery showcases portraits of foster children and provides details about their lives to prospective parents.

On the drive home Guccione starting making calls to find out how he could start a non-profit to help children find homes.

Within weeks, using his own money, he started the 501-C3 Heart Gallery of Sarasota.

Guccione draws no salary from the charity. He works with his family, which owns and operates group homes for developmentally disabled adults.

Ten months later, almost 50 children are in the Heart Gallery and a network of 60 volunteers help. The gallery, some of which is available online, showcases foster children in their best light, both with portraits and the stories of their lives.

That gives the local agencies a boost as they try and find the children homes.

One 12-year-old girl is currently being adopted by a couple in Virginia who saw Guccione's Web site.

"My husband and I have wanted to adopt since we got married three years ago," said Jennifer Whitaker of Virginia. It was her father, the late Dr. Bill R. Owens, former personnel director of Sarasota County Schools, who asked them to consider a child from Sarasota.

"Jeremiah sent me photos right away and when we saw Kayla, we arranged to meet her," Whitaker added.

They spent Christmas with her here "spoiling her like crazy" and talk almost daily on the phone. Within five months, Kayla will have a permanent home.

"We can't wait until she's here," Whitaker said.

Guccione is working on spreading the word, to match more foster children with parents. By this April, Guccione plans to have a traveling picture gallery circulate around Sarasota.

He sees this as only the first step in a big project; raising the money for a building to house a permanent display is next.

"This is something tangible," says Guccione. "One can actually see the entire course of a child's life change.

Guccione can't say exactly why he chose to develop the Heart Gallery. He says he wasn't searching for something to bring meaning to his life. Though he had never done anything like this before, his mother used to take in foster children, while he was away at college.

He would meet them when he came home to visit and learned about their lives.

Guccione has found many people willing to help. When Guccione posted a notice at Ringling School of Art and Design, six students showed up to do sketches and take photos.

Even the Web site was acquired pro bono, donated by Yvette Portillo, who contacted Guccione to offer her expertise.

Jane Goodwin, director of Marketing and Community Relations for the Sarasota Family YMCA, has been partnering with Heart Gallery of Sarasota.

Working for the lead agency in the Safe Children Coalition, she sees the importance of finding new ways to manage the growing problem of hundreds of children in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties, especially older ones or families with multiple siblings, who are at risk of never finding a permanent home.

She believes Heart Gallery is perfect for these children

"People don't put a face on this problem," Goodwin said.

"Heart Gallery provides photos along with a biography so people wanting to adopt can get the whole picture," she added. "It's the real deal."