IT ALL BEGAN WITH A GIFT ...
... A gift and an idea that animation can change the lives of kids who have been impacted by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or trauma. Actually, our original concept was to create a children's book, but we immediately came up against multiple challenges, including how many to print, what languages, where to send them, and how to get them into the hands of the people who needed them most.
There was also the issue that, well, ... PTSD is complicated. There is no one right way to address living with the effects of trauma. That might not have been an issue in a book for children as they tend to be shorter, but books are limited in the scope of what they can achieve. Animation, however, is a medium that is far more engaging for kids and is particularly well-suited for discussing topics and issues that are harder to understand in print. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Animation is comprised of thousands of pictures, so ... What if we could make animations about PTSD or trauma that would be freely-accessible to anyone with access to the internet?! We immediately made the change from print to animation and began work on The Tales of the Golden Acorn.
Then ... one day at a backyard barbecue, our founder learned about a pediatric endocrinologist who was trying to create a tool that would help kids understand how to manage their newly-diagnosed type 1 diabetes. After a few discussions, it was clear that her work was perfect for Drawn from Valor, and our mission began to expand. In July 2018, we shared Kara & the (Not So) Dire Beastie with the world.
While PTSD has wide-reaching effects, too many children still don't have access to resources they need to manage so many other medical and mental health conditions. We want to change that. In our dream world, Drawn from Valor helps to heal, educate, and empower children and families impacted by medical and mental health conditions of all kinds.
We want children and their families to live longer, happier, healthier lives. We hope you'll dream big along with us and help us create that world!
