This Woman Brings Smiles To Children’s Faces By Making Custom Dolls That Match The Disabilities Of Their Owners

Amy Jandrisevits, from Wisconsin, is an owner of a small business with a very beautiful mission. A doll collector since childhood, Amy has created A Doll Like Me.

The aim of this project is to create dolls that would have the same characteristics as their owners with disabilities and/or rare conditions. It was a lack of diversity in the dolls that pushed Amy to begin creating dolls like no other, in turn, making the children feel needed and included. And so, 4 years ago, having worked as a social assistant in pediatric oncology unit for years, Amy felt the urge to start creating representative toys for children.

On her personal Facebook account she says, “Even when I was a social worker, I thought it was important to have dolls available to the kids because everyone should have something to hold. Everyone should have a doll that looks like them.

Not only beautiful, the dolls created by A Doll Like Me make a difference in the lives of hundreds of children.

More info: Facebook | Instagram | ca.gofundme.com

Image credits: A Doll Like Me

Jandrisevits goes beyond and above in order to make each doll resemble the child it’s intended for as closely as possible. To do so, she has learned to replicate everything from birthmarks to limb differences. Each doll is unique, yet they still have one thing in common – all dolls wear a smile.

“It’s so difficult to tell a kid ‘you’re beautiful just the way you are, but you’re never going to see a doll that looks like you.” – says a 45-year-old Amy, founder of A Doll Like Me.

Image credits: A Doll Like Me

“Typically, parents or caregivers pay for the dolls – about $100 with shipping per doll. When they can’t afford it, I’ll find a way to cover it myself. Whatever it costs, whatever I have to do, I’m going to get a doll in the hands of these children. This isn’t just a business. It’s the right thing to do.”

Image credits: A Doll Like Me

A Doll Like Me has provided over 300 dolls so far which have been shipped to children all around the world. Amy’s ultimate goal is to turn her small business into an official non-profit organization where every child in need could get their one-of-the-kind doll free of charge.

And many people are responding kindly to her mission, as she has already reached $38.000 out of $50.000 goal on GoFund.me. Consequently, now many of the dolls are funded by donations!

Image credits: A Doll Like Me

In addition to that, Amy is already cooperating with a children’s hospital to make it easier to identify kids whose well-being could be improved by a stuffed toy which looks just like them!

Image credits: A Doll Like Me

Here are some of the smiles made possible by A Doll Like Me

Image credits: A Doll Like Me

“This sweet little face has been on a lot of hearts lately. I always say that dolls touch a place in kids that medicine just can’t, and “Stewart” is working his magic.”

Image credits: A Doll Like Me

“It’s unusual for me to make dolls without limb differences, but a while back, a mom contacted me about making a doll for her daughter who was adopted from China and had albinism. They weren’t able to find dolls with her features and wondered if I could help. I couldn’t resist.”