To the leadership of Friends of Ruby,

We are calling on you to establish a Friends of Ruby Alumni Program for community members who age out of your current eligibility model. Your organization exists to provide safety, belonging, mental health support, housing assistance, and community for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth. That mission matters. But healing, identity development, trauma recovery, loneliness, and economic hardship do not suddenly end on someone’s 30th birthday.

For many people, turning 30 can mean being cut off from one of the only affirming spaces they have ever known. It can feel like abandonment at the very moment stability is still fragile. Many queer and trans adults carry years of delayed milestones caused by family rejection, housing insecurity, discrimination, or mental health struggles. Some arrive at safety later than others. Some begin their real lives in their thirties.

An age cap may serve administrative purposes, but it should not become a wall that erases community bonds.

We ask you to create an alumni program that includes continued community access through drop-ins, peer gatherings, workshops, and social events for former participants aged 30 and over.

We ask for transition supports such as referral navigation, short-term counselling bridges, and support groups for alumni who are no longer eligible for youth services.

We ask for mentorship opportunities so former participants can support younger members who are facing the same struggles they once faced.

We ask for volunteer and leadership pathways so alumni can remain connected and continue contributing to the community they helped build.

We ask for a no wrong door policy so no former participant is made to feel they are too old to belong.

Community organizations should not only help people in crisis. They should help sustain people into adulthood. A person who found hope at 24 may still need connection at 31. Someone who found housing support at 28 may still need community at 35. Someone who first felt safe at Friends of Ruby at 29 should not lose that belonging one year later.

The message should be simple: you grew with us, and you still matter to us.

We urge Friends of Ruby to lead by example and recognize that aging out of youth services should not mean aging out of care, dignity, or community.

Build an alumni network. Build continuity. Build a lasting circle of support.

People do not expire at 30.

Sign this petition if you believe no one should lose their community because of a birthday.