The Arsenal Mall is helping to find families to adopt children from foster care by hosting the MARE (Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange) Heart Gallery, a striking collection of portraits of local children and teens in Massachusetts foster care. Since 2006, the Arsenal Mall has generously donated space for these portraits of waiting children. The location has sparked over fifty families to call MARE and inquire about these waiting children and has provided priceless general awareness and advocacy for adoption from foster care.

The MARE Heart Gallery travels across the state to raise awareness of adoption from foster care and to recruit families for the hundreds of children in state care in need of adoption. Volunteer professional and amateur photographers donate their time and talent to photograph these children and teens. A wide range of youth are featured in the exhibit –school-aged youth, sibling groups, children of color of all ages as well as youth with special needs. Since 2005, MARE has featured over 250 children in the Heart Gallery exhibit. Nearly half of those photographed children have been matched with permanent adoptive families.

The display is currently up and will remain up through November 19^th at the Arsenal Mall.

For additional information about this exhibit and on how the community can help contact MARE at 617-54-ADOPT (617-542-3678) or visit www.MAREinc.org/.