Photos Capture Joyful Faces of Kids on Adoption Day, After Years in Foster Care

Charity organization Together We Rise is putting foster care adoption into a powerful numerical context. With its #fosterlove social media initiative, the nonprofit shares photographs of smiling kids on the days that they finally find their “forever homes,” each with a chalkboard sign or poster that shows exactly how many days it took to get their adoptive parents.

At any time, at least 100,000 children are waiting for adoption, and over 1,200 more enter the foster care system on a daily basis. When they do eventually get adopted–after anywhere from several hundred to several thousand days–the joy seems to gleam from their faces, as captured by local photographers who donate their services to support the project.

Though Together We Rise also offers resources like bicycles, school supplies, and scholarships for these under-served youths, the #fosterlove campaign is particularly intended to “highlight the positive with amazing adoptions that are happening every day,” explains Executive Director Gianna Dahlia. The images are indeed uplifting and empowering. They reveal every adoption’s heartwarming impact on both the large-scale statistics and the unique happiness of every individual child.