About Us
Ellora DeCarlo and Gary J. Cooper are the co-founders of Futuro de los Ninos and the proud adoptive parents of Julia, Leo, and Lorenzo. In October, 2007 they traveled to Guatemala on a volunteer trip with Habitat for Humanity. It was during this trip they first visited Semillas de Amor Children’s Home and met their children. At the time, they had no idea of the life-altering journey that lay before them.
In May, 2008, they moved to Antigua, Guatemala to be near their children while their adoptions finalized. In November, 2008, they moved into the children’s home to live as a family and amongst the 48 other orphaned and abandoned children of Semillas de Amor.
Day to day living in Guatemala and visits to the orphanage provided many unexpected life lessons and blessings. The beauty and warmth of the people juxtaposed against dire impoverishment and heart-breaking conditions opened their eyes to a world outside their own. Sharing a community with 51 innocents whose lives are inextricably altered by the bureaucracy and poverty that plague Guatemala granted perspective beyond their wildest dreams.
Inspired and overwhelmed, Ellora and Gary set out to establish a means to help sustain the children’s welfare during this time of crisis and ensure them a brighter future.
Futuro de los Ninos Foundation is a legacy to the DeCarlo Cooper Family’s journey and the gifts they have received from the children of Guatemala. It is also a promise to the little souls who have touched their hearts that they will never forget them.
Ellora, President of Futuro de los Ninos, is a former educator and social worker with an M.S.W. from Arizona State University and a B.A. in Communication Studies from University of California at Santa Barbara. Gary, Vice-President of Futuro de los Ninos, is a former computer programmer with a B.S. in Computer Science from University of California at Irvine. Their home is in New York City where Ellora works as an actor and theatrical producer and Gary is a freelance photographer.
Click here to view Gary J. Cooper’s online gallery.
Ellora & Gary with Lorenzo, Julia, & Leo.
May, 2008.