Hope Storm with Dr. Anna

05/01/2026

For those who were unable to attend live, the video from the Evening with the Experts: Trauma-Informed Early Care is now available on YouTube. A huge thank you to Early Childhood Connections for having me, Carole and Rose for the great conversation, and all the attendees for sharing your time. I am always happy to bring this content to you or your organization or to answer questions you may have. Reach out at anna@hopestorm.org or 605-381-9644. I'd love to hear from you!

https://youtu.be/CeCCnRiyHqE?si=AIieG8malu11WEDm

04/30/2026

https://open.substack.com/pub/hopestormwithdranna/p/running-on-empty-when-the-village?r=2338mf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

https://hopestorm.org/2026/04/30/running-on-empty-when-the-village-left-and-the-expectations-didnt/

04/24/2026

I got to spend the morning at Artemis House (Victims of Violence Intervention Program) talking about nervous system regulation and tools for managing anxiety with their staff and clients.

It is a beautiful and welcoming facility. They work to prevent violence and support those who have been victim of domestic or sexual violence. If you don’t support them and their mission, you should!

Thank you for having me!

04/12/2026

There is still time to register for tomorrow's event!

It is FREE, ONLINE and you can earn CECH or DSS training hours certificates!

Email bbedford@earlychildhoodconnections.com or call 605-342-6464 to register!

04/10/2026

https://open.substack.com/pub/hopestormwithdranna/p/hatred-lives-in-our-nervous-systems?r=2338mf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

https://hopestorm.org/2026/04/10/hatred-lives-in-our-nervous-systems/

04/07/2026

I’m excited to be a part of this! It is totally virtual so you can attend wherever you are.

🌙 Evening with the Experts 🌙

Join us for an engaging and meaningful conversation on Trauma-Informed Care in Early Childhood. This is a topic that impacts every child, every classroom, and every interaction.

🗓 April 13th
⏰ 6:30–8:00 PM
💻 Online

We’re excited to welcome Dr. Anna Quinn, PhD, founder of Hope Storm, alongside ECC’s own Carole Foster. Together, they’ll explore how trauma-informed practices help children feel safe, supported, and ready to learn and how educators can respond with intention, empathy, and confidence.

This session will focus on:
✨ Understanding how trauma impacts young children
✨ Building resilience through relationships and responsive care
✨ Practical strategies you can use immediately in your program

💬 Have a specific question or scenario? Send it in ahead of time to rludeman@earlychildhoodconnections.com
We’d love to address it during the session!

🎓 Eligible for 1.5 CECH hours or DSS training hours

👉 Call or email to reserve your spot:
📞 605-342-6464
📧 bbedford@earlychildhoodconnections.com

03/31/2026

Check it out on my website or Substack!

https://hopestorm.org/2026/03/31/protest-is-not-pathology-a-trauma-informed-perspective-on-language-lived-experience-and-who-gets-to-define-harm/

https://open.substack.com/pub/hopestormwithdranna/p/protest-is-not-pathology-a-trauma?r=2338mf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

03/19/2026

My feet are currently buried in my kiddo’s sandbox.

It’s not exactly the beach, but my nervous system doesn’t know the difference.

Earthing (direct skin contact with the earth) has been shown to reduce cortisol, lower inflammation, and activate the parasympathetic nervous system (the part of your system that feels like a calming exhale). Your body absorbs electrons from the earth’s surface that help neutralize oxidative stress and settle your fight-or-flight response.

I needed this. You do too.

Warm day, cold day, sandbox, backyard grass, forest, beach, wherever. It all counts.
You don’t need perfect conditions to come back to yourself. You just need contact 🌍

03/11/2026

The American I Know Lives in the Hearts of Its People (blog)

I want to start with something simple: you are not imagining it.

The world is heavy right now. So fricken heavy. Not heavy in the ordinary way, which kind of feels like a low-grade hum or sting of stress most of us have learned to carry without naming. This is something different. This is the kind of weight that sits in your chest before you even get out of bed. The kind that makes you reach for your phone in the morning and then immediately wish you hadn’t. The kind that feels like tears building up behind a massive dam in your eyes, ready to break through, but you keep repairing it with tape.

Read the rest at:

https://hopestorm.org/2026/03/11/the-america-i-know-lives-in-the-hearts-of-its-people/

https://open.substack.com/pub/volupsolus134554/p/the-america-i-know-lives-in-the-hearts?r=2338mf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

03/10/2026

This season has brought very little moisture which isn’t always the case in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Today it’s snowing. And I’m grateful. I’m always grateful for moisture. I feel like an old farmer sometimes in how I appreciate moisture. If you’ve been around old farmers, you know what I’m talking about. “We needed this.”

A very tiny part of me groaned this morning. The roads could be slick. People will forget how to drive. Again. I’ll have to shovel.

But as I watched the snow fall something in me exhaled that I didn’t even realize I’d been holding.

The land has been tense in a quiet way, holding a kind of tension that only moisture can release. The fire danger building beneath.

I’ve felt that too lately.

Like everything, everyone, is just kind of holding their breath. Waiting for moisture. Waiting for release. Hoping to avoid fire.

And now it’s here. The snow is here.

Snow is heavy. It slows everything down. It asks something of us we don’t always want to give.

But feel what happens when you stop resisting it.

Take a breath. Think of what you’ve been resisting. What you been holding.

The earth needed this. The roots need this. The moisture goes deep and does something that all those easy, sunny days couldn’t do.

The body is the same way.

The things we keep moving past. The feelings still waiting. The exhale we keep postponing.

They don’t disappear. They wait. And when we finally slow down enough to meet them, something gets replenished that convenience never could.

So today, let the snow in the Black Hills be enough of a reason.

Put your feet on the floor. Feel the quiet. Let something in you soften that has been held a little too long.

We needed this.

Maybe you did too.

03/07/2026

We are just getting started. There are so many amazing vendors in this room. Today at the Mueller Center in Hot Springs from
9-3.