LEWISTON – Beth Bellevance-Grace vividly recalls the evening that Tommy came to their house. “I remember opening the door five years ago, and there were these huge round blue eyes looking at me and Karen. Two women introduced him to us, handed us a bag with a dirty pair of pants, a T-shirt, a pair of sneakers at least several sizes too big, and a baby bottle.”

Beth Bellevance-Grace and her partner, Karen Bellevance-Grace, know that there are half a million children in the foster care system in the U.S. and not nearly enough homes for them. Since Tommy’s arrival, they’ve had seven foster children and calls for dozens more who needed placement. Beth and Karen have since adopted Tommy and are in the process of adopting another foster child.

The photo of Beth, Karen, Tommy and their other 9-month-old foster child are part of the touring exhibit, “In Our Family: Portraits of All Kinds of Families” at USM/Lewiston-Auburn until Dec. 15.

The exhibition of 25 photographs by Gigi Kaeser and interviews edited by Peggy Gillespie and Rebekah Boyd celebrate the diversity of family life in 21st century America. Represented are single-parent families, families living with physical or mental challenges, immigrant families, adoptive families, foster families, divorced families, gay and lesbian-parented families, stepfamilies, multiracial families, multi-generational families and many others in the family circle.

The photo-text exhibit was created by the award-winning Family Diversity Projects of Amherst, Mass., and is traveling to colleges, public libraries, workplaces, places of worship, conferences, museums and communities nationwide.

The mission of Family Diversity Project is to promote a world where all families are recognized, valued and fully supported, when “normal” or “different” are words not used to describe family, and where the right to define family is respectfully restored to individuals.

Online information on the exhibit is available at http://www.familydiv.org/inourfamily.php The Web site includes a curriculum guide for teachers and other resources for the exhibit.

The exhibit is in the Hall Gallery at USM/LA, 51 Westminster St., and is supported by USM’s Fannie E. Gray Educulture Fund, the USM Provost’s Office and USM/Lewiston-Auburn. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The exhibit is open to the public free. For more information, call USM/LA at 753-6500.