Bridge It, founded by Carla Raynes, is dedicated to transforming the lives of young people experiencing homelessness in Australia. 💞
Their mission extends beyond providing housing to include building supportive communities and offering tools for independent, fulfilling lives.
One of their key initiatives, The Cocoon St Kilda, provides young women impacted by homelessness and out-of-home care with safe, nurturing accommodation and comprehensive support, including life skills development and various therapies.
BridgeIt proudly has a 100% success rate in transitioning young people to stable housing within their first year. They also prioritise their team’s wellbeing, fostering a supportive and resilient work environment.
Could you tell us more about BridgeIt and the work you do?
Bridge It was founded in June 2021 by our CEO Carla Raynes with big plans to make the world a better place. Bridge It’s Mission is to end youth homelessness by providing homes, community, and support so young people can lead independent lives.
What is the biggest cause of youth homelessness in Australia? What are the key resources required to support youth in these situations?
The lack of affordable housing is a major obstacle. Private rentals are completely out of reach for those on Youth Allowance, and social housing wait times can stretch for over ten years. This creates a critical gap for young people who can’t live with family and may struggle to maintain employment due to their circumstances. We need to see more government-funded and supported housing specifically for young people and more early intervention programs for young people at risk of homelessness. The system needs to bridge the gap between a lack of resources and the desperate situations young people face. By implementing these changes, we can create a safety net that catches young people before they fall and helps them build a brighter future.
We believe there are several crucial elements to focus on in order to truly empower individuals and break the cycle of homelessness.
Trauma-Informed Care: Many people experiencing homelessness have faced significant trauma in their lifetimes. Being trauma-informed means understanding the impact of trauma and creating a safe and supportive environment. This can involve building trust, promoting safety, working collaboratively, and empowerment.
Taking a Person-Centered Approach: Each person is unique, and we believe people are the experts in their own lives. Because of this, it’s important that we:
- Listen actively: Understand their needs, goals, and experiences.
- Provide tailored support: Develop personalized plans that address individual challenges and aspirations.
- Shared decision-making: Work alongside individuals to support people to make their own decisions that work for them.
Strengths-Based Approach: While acknowledging difficulties, focus on what an individual does well. This can help develop self-confidence and build a foundation for success.
- Identify strengths: Look for existing skills, resources, and positive qualities.
- Build upon strengths: Encourage individuals to utilize their strengths when problem-solving and setting goals.
- Celebrate achievements: Recognising progress, big or small, helps build motivation and confidence.
Creating Homes, Not Just ‘Housing’: Housing is essential, but a true “home” fosters a sense of belonging and security.
- Supportive environment: Promote a sense of community and connection for our residents.
- Stability and security: Long-term housing options provide peace of mind and a foundation for growth.
- Individualized spaces: Respecting individual needs for privacy and personalisation can make a space feel like a home.
Connecting People to Community: Isolation can be a risk factor for homelessness. Helping individuals connect to community resources and build social networks is key:
- Social connection: Provide or connect individuals to programs and events that promote social interaction.
- Advocacy: Help individuals access community resources like job training, healthcare, and legal aid.
- Mental health support: Connect individuals to mental health services that can address underlying issues.
By focusing on these crucial elements, we can move beyond simply providing shelter and work towards preventing homelessness and fostering a sense of belonging. This shift creates a lasting impact on people’s lives and strengthens our communities.
We are constantly in need of funding to run our programs to the high standard that our residents deserve. The lack of appropriate housing exit-options is always a challenge when we are supporting young people to begin looking at their housing options too.
The Cocoon St Kilda provides accommodation for 12-18 months to young women who have been impacted by homelessness and/or the out-of-home care system. In addition to providing residents with high-quality and affordable self-contained housing, The Cocoon offers a comprehensive range of supports, lived experience mentoring, life skills development, therapies (for example, acupuncture, naturopathy, massage, nature therapy, and animal assisted therapy), as well as community-based activities.
The Cocoon model was designed with reference to best practice and the collective experiences of the Bridge It Team. It was inspired by Housing First principals and the Common Ground model, with some adjustments made to tailor the model more closely to the needs of young women who are care or homelessness experienced.
We have a 100% success rate; with every young person we have supported so far exiting into accommodation of their choice in year 1. This is an incredible achievement for us all, and we feel tremendously proud to be a part of the lives of the people we support.
We are also super proud in the smaller, day-to-day moments. For example, working with young women who come to us unable to leave their apartments for months on end due to the trauma that they have experienced, to seeing them begin to speak to others and make their first ever friends. Seeing these young women develop interests and begin to hold hope and love for themselves has had the most impact on us and is one of the many rewards of working here.
We have all worked in roles in the social sector and witnessed the impact that the system and unsupportive workplaces can have on the workers themselves as well as the people accessing the support.
What makes Bridge It such a wonderful place to work is the continued focus on staff wellbeing, support, and improvement. We have a small and close-knit team who are supportive of one another which then impacts our ability to deliver the service to those we support. We have implemented quite a few staff wellbeing initiatives such as mid-year and Christmas celebrations, monthly social catchups, supervision that is internal and external etc.
Being a part of an organization that just gets it done and is so committed and motivated to making a massive impact in this sector and increasing the quality of life for those we support is an incredible feeling.
The Bridge It team absolutely loves Marsha! She works so incredibly hard and is always such a delight to see around!
It is always a buzzing hive of ideas and action. It feels wonderful to connect with other organizations over a cup of tea and then return to your own work. Those conversations can often feel rejuvenating.
The fact that there are multiple kitchens, the offices and meeting spaces are so modern and well fitted out. Once again I need to shout out how flexible and accommodating the Co-Work Me team is. They are always there when you need them!