Project 10 began with a young person making their voice heard. In the late 1980s, a gay youth in child protective services voiced that their needs were not being met. In 1990, two social workers at BATSHAW Youth and Family Centres responded by creating a small pilot focused on STI and HIV prevention for LGB youth. In 1991, what we know as “Project 10” began; what started as a lifeline quickly became a community. By 1999, Project 10 had become its own organization with its first board of directors.

Over the next decades, P10 grew alongside the youth we serve. We ran our first summer camp in 2001, officially expanded our mandate in 2003 to include trans and gender-questioning youth, and continued building programs that reflected the realities, strengths, and dreams of Montréal’s 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

As we strengthened our funding and partnerships, our capacity grew too. With support from the Government of Canada, we launched Our Bodies, Our Stories in 2017, an arts mentorship program for queer and trans youth of colour that embodies our long-standing commitment to holistic, intersectional support.

Thirty-five years later, the heart of Project 10 remains the same: listening to youth, believing them, and building with them. Our story continues to evolve because young people keep shaping it.