Our Why
Sharing lived experience so young people feel less alone.
Founded by Natalia, who’s walked this path herself, The Bridge Project was created to ensure no young person has to navigate hardship without a roadmap or a hand to hold.
Natalia Hogan, Founder, The Bridge Project
No young person should have to navigate hardship alone - or wait years to feel safe, supported, and seen.
Where it began
For as long as I can remember, I didn't know what it felt like to feel safe. I moved through foster care and family refuges, surrounded by neglect, violence, drugs, and alcohol - an environment that felt unstable, unpredictable and inescapable. It was the world I knew, but somewhere inside me, from a young age I knew it wasn't the world I wanted.
At 11 years old, I made a decision. I wanted a better life. I just had no idea how to get there - no roadmap, no one to call, no door I knew how to knock on.
In my early teens I was homeless, couch surfing between friends' houses, trying to piece together stability from nothing. At 15, I ended up in a youth refuge - and it was there that everything shifted. I was connected with an organisation that gave me something I had never really had before: a place of my own. My first stable home.
That moment changed everything. And it's why The Bridge Project exists - because the right support, at the right time, changes lives.
No young person should have to figure it out alone.
Finding a way forward
The Bridge Project was born from my own experiences and the realisation that while support exists, the gap between a young person in crisis and the help they need is often too wide to cross alone. I wanted to build a bridge - a way to ensure that the next person wouldn't have to fight as hard just to be heard.
We started by simply showing up, listening, and mapping out the path collectively. Because sometimes the most powerful thing you can do for someone is stand beside them while they find their footing.
Running for something bigger
In 2025, my journey of advocacy took on a new dimension. I ran 175km from Sydney to Newcastle - and every kilometre was a reminder of the physical and mental endurance young people show every day when they are pushed to the margins.
That run wasn't just for awareness. It was to prove that with the right community behind you, you can go further than you ever imagined possible.
Today, we are that community.
175 km
Run from Sydney to Newcastle for homeless youth
$100k+
$57k+ raised for youth homelessness support
1 idea
Show young people the bridge to the help they deserve
“The greatest difference was belonging. Having people who saw me, who believed in me before I fully believed in myself.”
Natalia Hogan, Founder