In 1994, Niños de Nueva Esperanza emerged as a vision led by the late Father Ángel Darío Carrero and Hermanos Franciscanos. Through spiritual experience and integration of social assistance, this process of evangelization was welcomed into the Sabana Seca community. Three Franciscan brothers entered the Los Bravos sector of the community to help the children and began to unify efforts with members of the community and influential people in the country to build the organization that exists today. 

Endless success stories have been a result of the opportunities and resources here at Niños de Nueva Esperanza. This community center has grown and strengthened since its inception and intends to continue positively impacting the lives of the participants, volunteers, and staff through hope and love. 

The project has grown immensely since the beginning, especially in the diversity of services and workshops. We have had an increase in professionals, an increase in investors, and an increase in proposals.

The kite is a special symbol we hold sacred to the foundation of NNE. The kite symbolizes the successes and hardships we all face as human beings. We can fall, but learn to rise and get back up. The kite rises towards the sky so we can see ourselves as capable of achieving our dreams and rising from challenges.

The Franciscan brothers who started NNE, introduced kites to the first participants of the center as a fun activity.

Friar Ángel Darío Carrero Morales was born in New York and later lived with his parents in Rincón, a town in Puerto Rico where his passion for reading and writing poems began to emerge. He was part of the Franciscan Order and began his recruitment in the formation house in Sabana Seca, Toa Baja. He then studied in Mexico, Spain and Germany and was later ordained as a priest. He began his training as the neighborhood parish priest.

Father Ángel DarÍo was one of the main leaders of an intense process of immersion in the community that began in the mid-1990s that grew with the support of the community itself. Local artists and professionals from various disciplines donated their time and talent to give shape to what we now know as the Nueva Esperanza Children's Project.

A crucial moment during this journey was the rescue of the building that houses the project and is currently known as Casa Esperanza. Casa Esperanza has become a meeting space for the community that has developed projects focused on the child development and the community improvement of Sabana Seca.

Learn more about Father Dario’s work