Images of inspiration
Somewhere around 100 foster children have shared the home of Linda and Allen Rogers over the past decade.
“Our first foster care children were a nine-month old and a three-year old,” says Linda Rogers of Spokane. “We had them a year, and after that experience we knew this is what we wanted to do with our lives.”
A portrait of the Rogers family is one of 42 absorbing photographs in “The Heart Gallery” opening today in the Kress Gallery at River Park Square.
The traveling exhibit, organized by the state Department of Social and Health Services, features remarkable images of people assisted by the agency’s programs.
Exhibit organizers hope the photos inspire people to volunteer to help those in need because the need is enormous.
Across Washington, one in five, or about 1.5 million people, receives some sort of support from DSHS.
In Spokane County more than 123,000 are served by DSHS programs. Of that number 81 children are available for adoption, 773 kids are in foster care, at least 40 youths need mentors, and 946 seniors and disabled persons could use a friendly visit.
“We are hoping the Heart Gallery will engage people to become involved by providing a range of options on how to help,” says Heart Gallery director Deanna Rankos, a special liaison in the agency’s Aging and Disability Services Administration.
“We are doing this through a series of very dramatic photographs that have captured the inner spirit and personality of a child, a teen or a senior,” she says.
Samantha Barker, a social worker with the agency, approached top Northwest photographers and asked them to volunteer their time, skills and equipment.
Dean Davis was one of the six Spokane photographers contacted by Barker.
“I have to admit when I first received the phone call to create images for this project, I was a bit skeptical,” says Davis. “We receive many calls from organizations looking for pro bono work, and here was yet another one.”
Before the call was over, however, Davis was on board.
“The idea that one of my images could trigger an event as profound as adopting a child or cause someone to visit a senior citizen in desperate need of companionship was just too compelling to ignore.”
That sentiment was echoed by the other Spokane photographers in the show – Nick Follger, Ira Gardner, Matt Vielle, Rick Singer and J. Craig Sweat.
“My goal,” says Gardner, “was to celebrate the dedication these parents and siblings are making to the lives of these children and to hopefully inspire more from our community to picture themselves fulfilling this vital need.”
A common feeling by foster and adoptive parents Karen and James Hood of Spokane Valley, and Renee and Tom Siers of Spokane, is that they receive far more than they give.
“We’re really hoping that through visiting the Heart Gallery,” says Linda Rogers, “that people will see the need and know how blessed they can be by becoming foster parents. Yes it’s a lot of work, there are sacrifices involved, but the blessings are many, too.”