Miami Photographer Joshua Prezant

Today I got a e-mail letting me know that a child I photographed for the Heart Gallery was recently permanently adopted.

The e-mail:

Dear Joshua, last September you too a Heart Gallery picture of Trenton, one of our children who is so medically complex the only placement we had for him was a nursing home a thousand miles from his home.  You took a beautiful picture and thanks to your help, Trenton was placed with his forever family last week.  Below are some pictures his new mom sent.  The pictures are not as good as yours but I am sure you will agree, the quality of his life has certainly improved!!!!   Thank you again for your help. Peggy

For several year now I have photographed children for the Heart Gallery in Miami and around South Florida.  It is something I look forward to every year.  Most of the time the children I photograph are older children that are normally harder to adopt.  But with Trenton, he was what many consider to be the “unadoptable” because of his severe medical conditions.

Having a photo make it to the cover of a magzine or seeing your advertising photo on a bus bench or billboard is great…. But nothing beats hearing the great news that one of the kids you photographed for the heart gallery has been placed with a loving family!  G-d bless the family that adopted Trenton.

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Shamesha loves children and tending to their needs makes her feel useful and fulfilled. She hopes to translate this love of children into a future as a caregiver. This bright young lady already volunteers part-time at a daycare center where she enjoys feeding babies, rocking them to sleep and teaching them the difference between right and wrong.

Her friends describe her as “talkative,” and she sees herself as cute and funny with an energetic imagination. In her spare time, Shamesha enjoys spending quiet time in the park or just singing along to her favorite rap, hip hop or Gospel track. Participating in sports is high on her list of favorite things to do. One of her short-term dreams? She hopes to be invited to a dance – one day soon. Loving and warm-hearted, Shamesha hopes to be adopted by a caring and understanding family that enjoys outdoor activities. Her desire for a stable home is so strong that this creative child wrote her own song about being adopted!

This child with special needs has set her mind on developing creative ways to manage her frustrations. It’s important to her to maintain a relationship with her birth family. A supportive environment for Shamesha will be one that provides balance and that enables her to become the shining light that she can be.

Since it’s inception I have been a contributor to the Miami Herat Gallery project.  Every year I have been honored to be asked to be part of a group of photographers from South Florida that come together to photograph some of the many children up for adoption in Miami.  This year I got to photograph a wonderful young lady named Shamesha (pictured above) that has been in and out of the “system” her whole life.  Hopefully she, along with the hundreds of other Miami-Dade foster children, will find a good loving home soon!

The Children’s Trust Miami Heart Gallery is a traveling, museum quality exhibit featuring portraits of children in Miami-Dade’s foster care system who are available for adoption. Child advocates and agencies across the nation have come together to create Heart Galleries, featuring children who dream of finding permanent homes with loving families.

From Maine to California and Florida to Washington state, these dedicated Heart Gallery planners have added their own touches, and through hard work and the generosity of their communities, they have helped these special children step out from the shadows into the light.

For more information and links to other Heart Galleries across the United States, visit www.heartgalleryofamerica.com or click on the section to the right for Heart Galleries throughout the US.

Exhibit at the FIU Frost Museum

Exhibit at the FIU Frost Museum