Jonesboro Occasions
cover story
Story by Susan O'Connor, Photos By Dero Sanford
There are those whose hearts have extra room for incredible love and gifts. Dia Sawyer is one such individual. She is changing lives at every turn.
As the Heart Gallery director for a nine-county area in Arkansas that includes Craighead County, Dia works to find permanent homes for children in the foster care system. To date, she has testified in court on behalf of 19 children, explaining to judges what the Heart Gallery is and can do for children who need homes. She is also the mother of five children, three biological and two adopted.
The original Heart Gallery project was founded in New Mexico by Diane Granito in 2001. It is a moving photographic display intended to connect waiting children with their “forever families.” There are more than 100 Heart Galleries in 48 states. Dia designed the initial web site for this part of Arkansas in January 2007. It was the second gallery developed in the state. The location of the Heart Gallery rotates monthly around Northeast Arkansas. Currently, the photographs are on display at Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro.
“As the Heart Gallery director, I try to utilize the power of photography to capture the individuality and dignity of children living in foster care in order to advocate for their permanency, raise public awareness about needs and obtain support to meet those needs,” Dia said. “I hope prospective parents will look into the eyes of these children, see their souls and realize they are just like every other child. Their only desire is for someone to love them forever. As a society, it behooves us to ensure these children’s care. They, in part, will be the nurses, caregivers, teachers and others in our community. They are an integral part of our future.”
Dia’s passion for this cause is inspired and fueled by her experiences as an adoptive parent, and there is no doubt that the family’s path to adoption was God-directed.
Dia and her husband, John, met at Nettleton High School when she was 15 and he was 16. He had just moved to town. “He was playing the piano during choir class. I went home and said, ‘Mom, we have a new boy at school and he is the cutest boy I’ve ever seen and I’m going to marry him.’”
The two married during their freshman year at Arkansas State University. John completed a degree in zoology, and Dia earned a bachelor’s degree in music education. Following graduation, both were interested in international missions. “Africa was our continent of choice,” Dia said. “The decision was huge. We filled out the paperwork on a Friday and on Monday, I found out I was pregnant.” The prospect of giving birth to their first child in a foreign country was daunting. They chose to stay in Jonesboro and raise a family.
“I decided I could find a role for mission work and be a stay at home mom,” she said.
When their son Justus was about six months old, Dia began mentioning to John that she thought they were being called to adopt. She searched the Internet about international adoption, adoption through the state and private adoptions.
“I found web sites that had birthmother situations that private lawyers and agencies didn’t have families in their database for,” she said. “I began e-mailing and calling about those situations. Each time I called they’d want to put me on their waiting list and wanted me to make a deposit. I still didn’t feel called to do that, though.”
Two weeks later, a private attorney who had obtained Dia’s phone number called to ask if she would be interested in a new situation. The attorney said a birth mother had called from a local hospital and wanted to place her baby up for adoption but the attorney had no families in her database who were interested.
“My first question was ‘What special needs did the baby have?’ and she said none,” Dia said. “My second question was ‘Is it a boy or girl?’ When she said ‘girl’ that just seemed to be an added bonus since we only had one son. I kept asking why she didn’t have any families. She said she just didn’t have enough families for African- American babies. I said that we were definitely interested! We were so excited and knew that race was not an issue for us. I can’t imagine race would be a priority when a child simply needed a home. Race has been a factor in defining our family, but has never been a negative factor — simply a defining factor.”
They named their beautiful daughter Elliette Maree. She is now eight.As Dia held Elliette in her arms on the flight home, she described a fierce protectiveness that enveloped her — emotions different from those experienced with a biological child, but every bit as powerful.
“I felt I had to protect her against everything — racism, the stigma of being adopted, not getting the needs and wants that would seem to be entitlements of a birth child. I felt I had to stand up for her right to have everything she was entitled to as our child.
“It was just such an honor to care for her. I felt like God handed me this child that I was to care for. Anyone can have a child, but I felt like God gave us this particular child and it was our charge to do it right.”
Several years passed and the Sawyers got the baby bug once again. “We thought we’d have baby number three and then adopt number four,” Dia said. When it was time for an ultrasound, surprise awaited. The room became silent as everyone came to grips with the sight of two amniotic sacks, two babies, and heard two heartbeats. The situation was complicated by the fact that Dia had to spend 15 weeks of the pregnancy on bed rest.
“I did a whole lot of soul searching during that time — what I wanted with my life, with my kids, what I could handle.”
Their church family at Highland Drive Community of Christ came through with meals three times a week for 17 weeks. Moms of Multiples also brought magazines, books and food. Both sets of grandparents also provided much needed support.
At 38 weeks gestation, Dia gave birth to Jude and Lola. She said Elliette was a little disappointed at first that the babies didn’t have brown skin like hers. Dia had tried to explain to Elliette before the babies were born that they would have light skin and why. She told her that her “first mommy” had brown skin, and that’s why hers was brown. This only reinforced Dia’s conviction to adopt an African-American sibling for Elliette. She felt strongly that someday, it would be important to Elliette.
The adoption of Eva, now 2 years old, brought a special opportunity for the family. John, Dia and Elliette were able to room-in with Eva’s birth mother and extended family for two days.
“I said, ‘Look, Elliette, her belly is brown and the baby’s belly is brown.’ Then she really got it. It was such a blessing for her to see what first mommies are in person. We talked about how funny and nice and wonderful the baby’s first mommy was — just like hers. And I told her that Eva’s first mommy couldn’t take her home and care for her, so they asked us to, and what a privilege that is to get to care for her.”
Dia mentioned that when they adopted Elliette, they hadn’t really considered what it would mean to be a transracial family.
“It was difficult in the beginning,” Dia said. “Eight years ago in Jonesboro, it was difficult.”
She described stares as she shopped at Wal-Mart or the mall. There were lots and lots of questions, she said, and often, people just wanted to know why she chose to adopt a baby of another race. But she feels the city has evolved and become more diverse. With Eva, the reception was remarkably different.“Today, Jonesboro is a wonderful, wonderful place to have a transracial family. Now, African-American families and Caucasian families have embraced our family.”
After Dia recounted her story, she remembered something the private adoption attorney said to her when she first began asking questions about children available for adoption. The attorney said, “Dia, you can’t save them all!”“I haven’t forgotten that statement that she made to me,” Dia said. “Every time I’m working on a private adoption or Heart Gallery case, her words always echo in my mind. And, with every situation I’m working on I remind myself that it made a difference for that one!”
