At junior Ana Elisa Lackey’s house, the number of animals exceeds humans by a ratio of 6:1. Fur and litter boxes have transformed the family garage into an oasis for as many as 24 wayward pets.
“It’s really chaotic,” Ana said. “There’s enough drama with my family, but then when you add pets to the equation? Things get wild.”
Why all the animals? Ana’s family started the miniature Noah’s Ark, known as the Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary, during the pandemic to help find new homes for vulnerable animals. In addition, they accommodate pets at their sprawling 83-acre farm teeming with chickens and a variety of other animals.
The Lackeys’ willingness to bring others into their household reflects their family’s background. Ana’s Dad, Steven, was adopted from New Jersey at a young age, while Ana’s mom, Tamara, grew up in Germany as a self-described “army-brat.” Ana’s older sister, Sophie, is their only biological child. Her older brother, Caleb, was adopted from Ethiopia as a baby, and Ana was adopted from Ecuador as a toddler. They also have seven adopted pets—five cats and two dogs.
“When I was in high school, I remember feeling like one of the things I wanted to do was build a family that was a combination of birth and adoption,” Tamara said. “I was going to birth, adopt, birth, adopt and that just kind of stayed with me, even though it turned into birth, adopt, adopt.”
Inspired by her own adopted family, Tamara established a nonprofit in 2014 called Beautiful Together to improve the quality of life for children awaiting adoption in the U.S. and Africa. As a professional photographer, speaker, author and program host, Tamara, who specializes in children’s portraiture, brings attention to children living in poverty through photography and social outreach, as well as through her family’s animal sanctuary and on-the-ground work.
When COVID suspended most international flights, preventing the Lackeys from traveling abroad to help orphans in foreign countries, they shifted their attention to caring for animals.
“We wanted to actually create a home for supporting not just children living in crisis around the world, but also in our community. And then we’d seen what a connection children have to animals and how they provide a source of emotional support,” Tamara said. “We realized we could have a home for animals that need refuge and children could come in and help care for them.”
Since founding Beautiful Together and the accompanying Animal Sanctuary, the Lackeys have spearheaded many projects and funds to help orphans and foster children, such as the Orphan Transition and Stability Program and Syria Child Fund.
“We started [Beautiful Together] because we had been spending quite a bit of time in orphanages and care centers, really throughout the world, but focusing a lot of our attention in Ethiopia and Ecuador,” Tamara said.
“We really saw all these problems that we wanted to fix,” said Ana, recalling one of their earlier trips to Africa to visit her brother’s orphanage. “We saw these fences that were wide open that could easily cut the children; we saw that the orphanages didn’t have proper education, and so we decided to raise money to help these kids get better fencing and education. Basically, our focus is creating a better home within the orphanage until the children find homes.”
With 10 trips to Ethiopia over the past six years, the Lackey’s have completed 20 similar projects.
Through their initiatives, the family has become close to many orphans and foster children. Currently, they are seeking to adopt three Ethiopian boys—a painstaking process, since Ethiopia banned all international adoptions in 2018, despite having 4.5 million orphans due to maternal mortality, poverty and ongoing civil war.
“Even if they’re not legally my brothers, they are still in our hearts our brothers,” Ana said. “When COVID came, it was hard to break our promise that we would visit them, especially when we miss each other so much. Anytime we leave, it’s so heartbreaking for us, especially for my mom.”
While international adoption is notoriously difficult, involving months and even years of overcoming processing claims and red tape—especially in countries such as Ecuador and Ethiopia where civil war persists—parents like Tamara affirm that the journey to bring a child safely into their custody is a labor of love.
“You love your children the same whether you gave birth or adopted them, and that’s what led me to want to adopt again,” Tamara said. “We just fell in love with Ana from the photographs and descriptions of her, so we waited 18 months, and then we stayed in Ecuador for two months… toward the end of that process, it was very nerve-wracking… finally we were able to leave with her, and we were like, Thank God.’”
Two years ago, the Lackeys visited Ecuador for the first time since Ana’s adoption, embarking upon a two month tour around the country, including the Amazon Rain Forest and the Galapagos Islands. By chance, their trip coincided with Ecuador’s Independence Day.
“I remember there were all these colors—everything was so vibrant—and there were horses, and people dancing, and it was just so gorgeous,” Ana said. “I saw all these little llamas; llamas are everywhere there.”
While in Ecuador, Ana also visited her orphanage.
“It was really emotional because I hadn’t seen it in ten years,” Ana said. “At first I didn’t want to go, because I felt very overwhelmed by the whole situation, but we ultimately went, and this woman remembered me. She was like ‘Oh, my God! You’re Analisa!’ And she showed us around, and I saw all these little kids, and they reminded me of myself.”
Ana and her brother Caleb as toddlers; photo courtesy of Tamara Lackey
Along with other adopted children worldwide, Ana and her brother commemorate their adoptions through their “Gotcha Days,” the anniversary for their adoption date.
Several years ago on Caleb’s Gotcha Day, the Lackeys visited his orphanage in Ethiopia, only to find it destroyed. Devastated, they visited another orphanage, where they met the three boys they now consider their siblings.
“It was really fate,” Ana said. “But if we go to Ethiopia, Ghana or Ecuador, wherever we meet a couple of kids that our whole family will fall in love with, we’ll probably adopt them. I think that’s why we’re so excited to adopt, because we see true love and we have a connection.”
To the Lackeys, helping improve the lives of others—whether orphans or homeless pets—also involves inviting other “like-hearted” individuals who form the backbone of their organization to contribute. At a recent event at Carrboro High School, people could adopt pets, as well as contribute to fundraisers and other activities, such as creating new items for animals like cat sweaters and dog toys. They are hoping to host similar events at East in the future.
Back at the Lackey’s house, animals come and go as they find new homes, but the sense of satisfaction with helping pets and children alike find their homes is constant.
“Everyone who is adopted has a different story,” Ana said. “I hope at least that everyone who was adopted has a very beautiful life now, with a story to tell.”
Photos courtesy of Tamara Lackey
