Barnabas vouched for Paul when everybody else was still scared of him. Be the one who gives the reformed person a chance.

Reputations lag behind people by years. Somebody who has genuinely changed still carries the old version in everybody’s memory, and the group keeps them at a distance long after there is a reason to. What breaks that is one person willing to stake their own standing on the new version. It is a real risk, which is why it is rare and why it matters.

Somebody in your world is trying to be different and is still treated as who they were. Sit with them, pick them, include them in the group chat. You do not have to announce it, just be visibly fine with them.