Everyone knows someone who is struggling with something. The Hope Project is aimed at crisis prevention by skilling and equipping people better in the every day, to not just exist or survive, but to thrive in life.

 

The Founder Kate Seselja noticed that it is not that people cannot identify or admit their struggles, the escalation of pain occurs when they have lost hope in the possibility of their life changing. Entrenched hopelessness occurs due to two factors, either the person has put their hand up for help and it hadn’t worked, or they have never been modelled an alternative or the opportunity for their pain to be validated via genuine vulnerable exchange – human to human connection.

 

No one should ever be judged or chained to the guilt, pain and shame of the past. As a society we should be encouraged and supported to reclaim our unique lives and contribute positively to society – Restore Hope and Kindness Follows.

 

Kate knows this firsthand because she was driven to total despair in 2012 when the mother of 6 almost took her life, after battling an addiction for over 12 years. From this devasted place, she began to connect to herself in a different way. She researched and observed and saw the gaps in the human experience and developed a system for living a life of sustainable mental health called AWAKE derived from her own journey.  It fires up curiosity instead of drowning in shame or self judgement.  The only way to stop the constant flow of people into struggle that they get trapped in, is to skill and equip people proactively.

 

Kate delivers Gambling Harm Awareness Workshops, along with AWAKE and proactive resilience workshops in workplaces, universities, schools and community groups and is a sought-after speaker, by courageously modelling vulnerability as her gentle authenticity transforms audiences. The AWAKE  work book, the self-guided resource is a valuable toolkit and Kate is working on her new book "I bet I can change your mind - Disrupting the gambling industry that's destroying the world" to be released early 2026.

 

Kate has also obtained a license for a powerful documentaries, Resilience – The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope and Kaching -Pokie Nation Documentary. If you’d like to host a screening with your community register your interest below.

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The Hope Project is changing the way society views struggle, destroying stigma and challenges the systems that cause human harm, like the current gambling landscape in Australia. We can develop a constructive relationship with adversity, it then becomes advocacy and we change the culture of harm to a culture of community strength. Human struggle is a global issue so Kate fights for global change and has worked across many countries committed to disrupting the status quo. –Well Being is for all of humanity, we must always fight for those who are oppressed.

 

HOPE stands for Help Other People Everyday with a focus that no one gets left behind.