The evidence that led to Friends of Ruby did not begin with a policy gap. It began with a question that nobody had yet answered at scale: what is actually happening to 2SLGBTQ+ young people who become homeless in Toronto, and what do they need that the existing system isn’t providing?
A comprehensive survey of 2SLGBTQ+ youth residing at Sprott House documented patterns of housing instability alongside intersecting mental health, social, and service-access needs. The research was not designed to confirm what frontline workers already suspected. It was designed to produce evidence rigorous enough to move institutions — to make the population visible in a form that funders, policymakers, and service designers could not set aside.
That evidence became the foundation for Friends of Ruby. Grounding the initiative in direct, population-level insight meant that the organization was designed around what was actually true about the young people it would serve — not around what was administratively convenient or ideologically comfortable. Safety, stability, and long-term support rather than crisis response alone.
Friends of Ruby is now a permanent emergency shelter and housing organization in Toronto. The evidence did its job.