Sometimes silence isn’t an option.

At eighteen, Mel steps into flame-lit spears on her front lawn—her first mission to Papua New Guinea and the start of her life on the frontline. Travelling riot-torn streets abroad and tending to trauma debrief rooms back home, she collaborates with aid workers and law enforcement, strengthening her resolve to help others even as these experiences awaken buried memories.

A lone conversation with her brother yanks her back to a childhood shaped by abuse and family secrets. Armed with fierce determination, Mel refuses to merely remember; she vows to expose the hidden truths. Can she be heard before her family silences her?

Building the Bridge stands as a testament to compassion over revenge, sharing over silence, and the hope that emerges when we dare to break the cycles that bind us.

Some bridges crack. Others save lives.

Mel Baker is an award-winning author and filmmaker whose raw, honest narratives have inspired audiences worldwide.

Mel Baker is an award-winning author and filmmaker, adult educator, international speaker, and chaplain from Sydney, Australia. She inspires audiences worldwide and has dedicated her life to transforming challenges into powerful insights.

Her critically acclaimed short film, Say My Name, based on her memoir Sleeping Under the Bridge, has won multiple awards for its raw, honest portrayal of survival and hope.

In the final installment of her trilogy, Climbing the Bridge, Mel returns to frontline police work, both local and international, before embarking on a military career that plunges her into trauma eerily reminiscent of her childhood, upending everything she thought she had rebuilt.