Heart Gallery of Tampa, Inc

Probably the strongest Heart Gallery out there. Fantastic response times, training resources, and intense involvement in the lives of the kids on the gallery.
Sep 11th, 2023

Great organization that serves underserved children. The organization does a great job and as someone pointed out Eckerd is the initial contact. Really great to have these people working hard to help the children in need. Shame on the reviewer who gave 1 star. Take time to learn about what they do before making a statement about an informational email.
Dec 17th, 2021

The first thing you have to understand is that these people are understaffed, underfunded, and over worked. Be patient when contacting them. The best way to move forward is to contact Eckerd Connects.
Sep 11th, 2020

Making a difference in the lives of children.
Apr 22nd, 2020

Heart Gallery Failed Us and a Child in Need Following an initial inquiry through the Heart Gallery, we were in the process of adopting a child who had lived with us for over five months. The guardian ad litem (GAL) made false accusations that we were influencing and coercing the child. In spite of the fact that these accusations were completely false, Heart Gallery did nothing to stop the GAL's personal agenda from taking precedence over the interests of others. This resulted in the child being placed with an older sibling, who had already been separated from him by the court. Even a Heart Gallery representative, KS, was in the hearing and did nothing about it. The Heart Gallery also put these siblings initially together for placement defying the court separation order. Our hearts are broken by this outcome, and we believe that the system failed this child. Every single professional in the child's life advocated for him to stay in his placement and be adopted by us, including his teachers, school administrators, and therapists. The GAL's false accusations were enough to convince the judge to remove the child from our home because the voices of all of those who were in the child's life on a daily basis were suppressed. We do not recommend inquiring through Heart Gallery. We believe that the organization is more interested in protecting its own interests than in finding permanent homes for children in need. We would encourage anyone considering adoption to look into other organizations that are more committed to the best interests of children. We are still grieving the loss of the child we were hoping to adopt. While we already have two siblings that we're in the process of finalizing, we will fight until the very end for this child. Specifically, we are disappointed with the following: - Heart Gallery did not take our concerns seriously when we first reported the GAL's false accusations. - Heart Gallery did not intervene to stop the GAL from pushing her own personal agenda. - Heart Gallery did not fight for the best interests of the child. - Heart Gallery did not listen to the voices of the people who were in the child's life on a daily basis. We believe that Heart Gallery's actions in this case were negligent and harmful to the child. We hope that other families considering adoption will be warned by our experience and choose to adopt through an organization that is more committed to the best interests of children. We are also sharing our story in hopes that it will help to bring attention to the issue of false allegations in adoption cases. False allegations can have a devastating impact on families and children, and it is important that we work to raise awareness of this issue so that it can be prevented in the future. We will continue to fight for this child and bring him back home.
Sep 8th, 2022