Boy's photo leads to his becoming a son and brother

By JAMAL THALJI, Times Staff Writer
Published August 20, 2007

Derek James Kijowski, 13, smiles at Judge Chris Helinger, far left, after Helinger finalized his adoption at the West Pasco Judicial Center.
	[Brendan Fitterer | Times]

The boy in the photo loves football and basketball. He loves macaroni and cheese and Dragon Ball Z, too.

He wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up. Or a football player.

Jodee Craig and Ken Kijowski spent years looking for another child to adopt. Then Craig saw Derek's photo on the Internet last year. She read all about him.

There was something about that boy.

It was his eyes. Big, bright blue-green eyes.

"I think you can see a lot about a person in their eyes," Craig said. "I saw a caring kid that needed a place to call home."

* * *

A kid who needed a home.

That described the boy in the photo, too.

There are 469 kids in Pasco and Pinellas counties who can be legally adopted. But 186 of them haven't been matched with families.

That's what the Heart Gallery is for.

Last year Derek and 77 other foster children seeking adoption were professionally photographed. Quick biographies offering a glimpse into their lives accompany the life-sized portraits.

The gallery has been all over, from malls to libraries, from Tropicana Field to the Internet.

"It's an excellent way to recruit for children," said April Putzulu of the Safe Children Coalition, which oversees foster care in Pinellas and Pasco.

"And it's an emotionally safe way to do it."

* * *

The idea of the gallery started in New Mexico in 2001 and spread across the country. Tampa started its gallery in 2005.

The local version, the Progress Energy Heart Gallery, was born in a Clearwater deli last year. The charity works with the coalition to tell the kids' stories.

Sometimes, their pictures do it for them.

"It works because people in the community can walk up and say, 'Oh my gosh, that child can be my child,' " said Heart Gallery president Heidi Akers. "It really puts a face on these kids."

The gallery is starting to pay off for the coalition - and the kids.

It has helped 18 children find families. Eleven have been adopted. Derek is the latest.

He waited three years for a new family.

Ever since he lost his old one.

* * *

There were allegations of substance abuse and neglect made against Derek's parents. It wasn't always like that, he said.

The state took him and his sisters, Chelsea and Tiffany, from their Holiday home three years ago.

In his way, Derek was the first to go. There were times when he just would not go home - not after he lost his dad to drugs.

"Every day when I used to play with my friends, I'd just sit outside in the sun," said Derek, who was 10 then. "I'd try to stay outside."

Three months after they were taken from their parents, their father committed suicide.

"You just wanted to go home," Derek said of his parents. "But you know you can't be with them anymore, so it's kind of hard to handle that kind of stuff."

* * *

Their mother started, but never finished, efforts to reunite the family. Her parental rights were terminated.

The kids haven't seen her since.

The siblings thought they would be adopted together, but there was a problem: Derek.

"I wasn't mature enough," he said.

Wanting to be adopted isn't enough. Children need to be ready for it. They first have to get through the pain and trauma of losing one family.

"These children have just been hurt and disappointed," Akers said. "I can't imagine what it takes for them to be ready.

"It's like dating when you're 10 years old."

Chelsea, now 16, was the first sibling to be ready. Family friends adopted her last year.

Tiffany, now 15, still isn't ready. But she's working at it.

After living with nine foster families from Spring Hill to St. Petersburg, Derek decided last year that he was finally ready, too.

"I'm a more loving person," he said. "I just used to be terrible. I didn't listen. I didn't ..."

Craig stopped him: "That was a confusing time for you."

* * *

The couple first met Derek in November. Kijowski, 51, and Craig, 54, had lunch with him in a St. Petersburg park. Derek remembers his favorite part:

"Sugar cookies with sprinkles," he said, "from Publix."

By the next week, a bond had already formed.

They were nice to him, Derek said, and helpful. His grades shot up. Even more important, he said, "they were taking care of me."

The couple adopted their first child, a girl, at birth 11 years ago. They had never raised a boy, much less a teen.

"Derek just seemed genuine, honest, a young kid who had some tough times but needed an opportunity to make things right," Kijowski said. "We felt he was truly a good kid deep down inside."

Said Craig: "He just needed the chance."

* * *

In March, Derek moved to Pinellas County to live with them.

His life became routine once more. Now 13, he's into sports and football again. He plays right defensive tackle and left offensive tackle for the Seminole Chiefs.

"It's hard to play both positions," he said. "You get beat up most of the time."

His routine was happily interrupted Wednesday with a trip to the West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey.

Adoptions are closed proceedings. Kijowski and Craig disappeared behind the courtroom doors with Derek as his legal guardians.

When the doors opened, they were a family.

Fast Facts:

About this story

Only the first names of Derek and his sisters were made public. Adoption records are sealed in Florida. Derek and his new family told his story and gave permission to the Safe Children Coalition to discuss his case.

The traveling exhibit of the Progress Energy Heart Gallery of Pinellas and Pasco will be at the Largo Public Library until Sept. 23. Eventually every adoptable child in Pinellas and Pasco counties will be featured online. To see the online gallery go to www.heartgallerykids.org.

* * *

For information about the Heart Gallery or adopting foster children, call the Safe Children Coalition toll-free at 1-866-661-5656 .

[Last modified August 19, 2007, 20:43:17]