Meeky the Dragon – Building Safe, Brave Little Hearts Defenders for Hope is seeking funding to launch Meeky the Dragon, an early-intervention educational initiative designed to support young children experiencing trauma, displacement, and emotional distress. Meeky the Dragon is a gentle, child-friendly character created to help children understand big feelings, safety, kindness, and resilience through ...
Defenders For Hope
Meeky the Dragon
GOAL
$50,000
Australia > QLD > Metro and Regional
Field of Interest
- Housing and homelessness
- Individual/family services and support
Target Population
- People experiencing or at risk of homelessness
- People experiencing socio-economic disadvantage or vulnerability
Defenders For Hope
Defenders For Hope is a grassroots, community-led charity based in the Logan and Scenic Rim regions of Queensland, supporting individuals and families experiencing domestic and family violence, homelessness, and crisis.
Established to address critical gaps in accessible, immediate support, the organisation operates multiple community service centres providing practical, dignity-focused assistance. This includes clothing, food hampers, hygiene items, bedding, and essential household goods to those in need.
A key initiative is the delivery of Family Move-In Packs, designed to support women and children transitioning out of domestic violence situations. These packs include furniture, linen, kitchenware, and everyday essentials, helping families establish safe and stable homes with dignity.
Defenders For Hope also operates community foodbanks across several locations, assisting individuals and families facing food insecurity and ongoing cost-of-living pressures. Additional support includes access to laundry and shower facilities, helping vulnerable community members maintain personal wellbeing.
The organisation is entirely community-driven, relying on volunteers, donations, and strong partnerships with local schools, businesses, and service providers to respond quickly and effectively to community need.
Without consistent government funding, Defenders For Hope has become a trusted frontline support service, delivering compassionate, non-judgemental care to hundreds of people each week.
Defenders For Hope is committed to restoring dignity, creating stability, and ensuring that hope remains accessible to everyone in the community.
Project Summary
Meeky the Dragon – Building Safe, Brave Little Hearts
Defenders for Hope is seeking funding to launch Meeky the Dragon, an early-intervention educational initiative designed to support young children experiencing trauma, displacement, and emotional distress.
Meeky the Dragon is a gentle, child-friendly character created to help children understand big feelings, safety, kindness, and resilience through engaging storytelling and accessible resources.
This project will develop a series of short, high-quality animated videos that deliver simple, trauma-informed messages in a safe and nurturing format. Each video will be supported by complementary educational resources, including printable activity sheets, discussion guides, and caregiver tools, allowing the content to be used effectively in homes, schools, early learning centres, and support services.
Funding will enable:
– Production of multiple Meeky educational videos
– Development of supporting resources for children and caregivers
– Distribution and media exposure to reach vulnerable families
– Engagement of skilled creatives and community facilitators to deliver the program
The goal is to get Meeky into the hands and hearts of children who need it most, particularly those impacted by domestic and family violence, homelessness, and crisis.
By combining storytelling with practical resources, this project will create a scalable, sustainable support tool that empowers children to feel safe, express emotions, and build confidence in difficult circumstances.
Meeky the Dragon is more than a character — it is a movement of hope, helping little hearts feel safe again.
Project Outcomes
Through Meeky the Dragon, we aim to create an accessible, trauma-informed resource that helps young children understand big feelings, recognise safe people and places, and build resilience after experiencing change, crisis, or uncertainty.
This project will deliver high-quality educational videos and supporting resources into homes, schools, early learning centres, and community services. Our goal is to provide children with simple, comforting tools that help them feel safe, heard, and less alone.
We will measure success through both reach and impact. Reach will include the number of videos produced, views and downloads, and the number of schools and services using Meeky resources. Impact will be assessed through feedback from parents, educators, and service providers, as well as observed improvements in children’s emotional language, confidence, and self-regulation.
We will know we have achieved our goal when children begin using the language of safety and hope independently, when families report that Meeky has helped calm or comfort a child, and when Meeky becomes a trusted symbol of reassurance within our community.
Budget Breakdown
TOTAL BUDGET: $167,000
FUNDING
| Funding source | Amount |
|---|---|
| In House funding | $25,000 |
| Funding Gap | $50,000 |
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