Alex first encountered Project 10 while looking for a way to work and connect with the LGBTQ+ community in Montreal. Though they were too young to volunteer at the time, they attended P10’s camp as a participant and have been involved ever since, saying “when I first went to drop-in it was… because it was the only place I felt safe and with time it became… the place I volunteer at.”

Since their first visit, Alex has shared many milestone moments with us, like receiving their first binder, provided by P10’s gender gear service, on their birthday: “I was just like ‘oh my gosh!’ like my first binder ever, I can’t believe, and I was so thrilled because I’ve always wanted a binder to help with my dysphoria and I had it and was just, like, the happiest person in the world!” At first relying on the services offered, like drop-in or accompaniment, Alex has woven themself into the fabric of Project 10 by joining our board as a youth member and extensively volunteering with us.

In particular, Alex began to volunteer with the arts mentorship program for Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (QTBIPOC) youth, Our Bodies Our Stories. “It just helps us grow as artists in general,” said Alex, “not only through our art but through our connections. Like, getting to know more and more the queer art community around here.”

This program was the first opportunity Alex ever had to be in a QTBIPOC space in their life. This experience helped them become more comfortable with themself, as Alex says: “at that time in my life I was a bit confused about who I was and like being around people who understand me or understand things I went through or things I'm still going through and things I continue to go through… Having people to understand and without having to explain yourself, just having that small space of people, having dinner with them and having workshops with them, like there’s really a connection that was built.” When asked why, in their view, the program was called Our Bodies Our Stories, Alex explained that “as QTBIPOCs, a lot of our pain happens because of our bodies. Our hair type, the skin color, things like that, and they are very much part of our stories as well.” In this way, the art being produced in this program captures the connection between the bodies of QTBIPOC youth and their many life experiences, the stories they itch to tell.

“I found connections, I found amazing friends, even work possibilities because of the connections I've made with P10.” Beyond that, they have discovered a space where they can be identity-creative. “I was not expecting to build connections or anything, I just wanted a space where I could be me, leave my problems out at the door and a few hours later come back to them. It was really hard at home and in my life in general. Instead I just found myself having P10 more as a home.” And that’s what Project 10 can be; a community, somewhere to return to, and as Alex puts it, somewhere you can start or continue the journey in “creating myself into a person that I enjoy being.”