A letter from the 2021 Annual Report, which can be viewed here.
How can I ever thank those who have changed so many lives? The last three years at The Army of Survivors have seen tremendous growth and support. I have seen the power that comes with standing together as a united force against enablers, institutions who have betrayed survivors, and whole systems that are broken. We have the power to create change.
Your support has impacted countless lives. We have already achieved so much as an organization through the hard work and dedication of volunteers, the board of directors, our amazing staff, and the community’s generosity. I am grateful for the opportunities that we have ahead of us to change the culture of sports and society at large. By taking on one aspect of sexual violence against children, The Army of Survivors fills a small niche to make a bigger impact on lives across the nation.
With your help, we’ve been able to gain the support of hundreds of parents, survivors, and allies of the Child Athlete Bill of Rights. We were able to offer almost one hundred survivors the opportunity to speak out about their experiences during survivor speakout events. In addition, we were able to continue to bring awareness to this issue, and reached more than 5,000 followers across our social media channels.
Our goal — to eliminate sexual violence against athletes — remains our guiding star as we continue to move forward. TAOS seeks to change the system, not just the symptoms, to prevent abuse in sports by focusing on education, advocacy, and resources.
We stand with survivors. We are beside them in the fight for justice. We believe their stories. We hear their demands. And we fight for that change.
We thank every one of our supporters for their help over the last year as The Army of Survivors continues to make strides toward a safer environment in athletics for our children. And we know that together we will find ever more reasons to be grateful through the work that we do.
Grace French
Founder and President, The Army of Survivors
