The "Mama Bear": Shirley Young 

Shirley Young didn’t set out to be an advocate. Her story begins the way many do, inside a family navigating fear and uncertainty. When her son, Dr. Peter, chose to speak publicly about living with HIV during the height of the AIDS crisis in the late 80s, it carried real risk. Stigma was sharp, and it landed not only on individuals, but on families too. Shirley’s first reaction, by her own account, was concern about what people would think. That instinct will be familiar to many of us. It reflects the pressure to contain, to stay quiet, to protect reputation in the face of judgment.

But Shirley did something that matters for our work here: she changed. She worked through that fear, moving closer toward her son and toward the broader community pushed to the margins by stigma. That shift, from hesitation to solidarity, became the foundation of everything that followed.

After Peter’s death in 1992, Shirley could have stepped back. Instead, she stepped further in. What began as a personal loss became part of building a place where care was not abstract or episodic, but daily and human. She helped build what you see today: The Dr. Peter Centre. 

And after she built that, she could have once again stepped back, resting on the institutional legacy she helped create. But Shirley did not operate at a distance.

She kept showing up to the Centre, week after week and often every day for 30 years, volunteering. She served meals. She learned names. People called her “mom,” not because she was Dr. Peter’s mom, but because she made them feel like they were at home. Like they belonged.  

From Dr. Peter's decision to be his authentic self, through to Shirley's commitment—and the commitment of several others—to extend that belonging to communities on the sidelines, we can track a clear through-line to the present day.