This is where NOVODI begins — with one person, one decision.

A diagnosis of ALS at 33 could have been the end of many stories. Instead, it became the beginning of a new one — a story about agency, creativity, and the refusal to stop contributing.

She did everything right: balanced diet, no smoking, no drugs, regular exercise, an active life, eight hours of sleep. The kind of discipline that makes people nod and say, "You'll be fine." And then, starting in 2021, her body decided otherwise. Two years later, after multiple doctors and exams, the doctor said, "This is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis." She cried not because she understood what it meant, but because she knew this was something out of her control.

For months, one question haunted her: "How does someone like me end up here?" And then it changed. It became: "Now that I am here, what do I do with it?" That shift is not from inspiration, not from tragedy, but from the stubborn refusal to let a disease write the story.

Living with ALS gave her a close-up view of what inclusion really means, and what it so often fails to be. She saw gaps everywhere: in technology, in storytelling, in physical spaces. She decided to fill them.

For change to be made, we need to start with those that will lead our future: our children, she thought. So she decided to create a series of children's adventures books that introduced accessibility and inclusion. In the meantime, while talking to APELA, the portuguese association of ALS, they shared with her the lack of resources for children and that they also had an idea of creating a book around ALS to help the little ones. She decided to jump right into this project with them. This is how ©Here with You came to life.

From Portugal, NOVODI was created as a multi-project platform for inclusion. Not a charity. Not a corporate initiative. A purposeful, living project built around real people and real needs.