At the height of the AIDS crisis in 1988, Casey House was founded as a place where people could receive care without judgment. Fear ran so deep that Casey House’s first client was delivered to the door by a team of medics wearing Hazmat suits.
Today drug therapy allows people to live with HIV, but stigma persists.

Casey House conducted an online survey of Canadians and found 70% would be ashamed to tell anyone if they were found to be HIV+. And, although the disease can’t be transmitted through food, half of Canadians said they would not eat a meal knowing someone with HIV prepared it.

Fear and discomfort keep HIV a taboo subject. The goal was to expose the stigma, challenge beliefs, and force the conversation. The idea was June’s HIV+ Eatery, run by an HIV+ staff. Named after Casey House’s founder, June Callwood, Casey House gave the campaign an equally compelling name: Break Bread Smash Stigma (#smashstigma).

Over three nights, enlightened Toronto diners could show their understanding and compassion by enjoying a meal prepared by 14 HIV+ people. Casey House collaborated with Toronto Chef Matt Basile to train the volunteers-turned-cooks, as well as to develop the menu. Tickets sold out in less than two weeks.

Beyond the June’s HIV+ Eatery experience, success in tackling the stigma would depend on spreading the story. Social is where you can see the best and the worst of humanity. Ignorance was exposed in posts that were often difficult to read. Using #SmashStigma, Casey House countered hate with myth-busting facts, but often the community, so incensed with the trolls, jumped in first to address their ignorance.

The most pointed expression of June’s HIV+ Eatery was developed for the media. As invites to the restaurant, Casey House sent jars of soup made by HIV+ cooks with statements like: “I GOT HIV FROM SOUP. SAID NO ONE EVER.” and “FIGHT HIV STIGMA WITH EVERY BITE.” Even for the best-informed media, the soup was a visceral test of their beliefs and biases. This social experiment captured the imaginations of journalists from the largest media outlets around the globe. They interviewed the cooks and wrote compassionate stories about the stigma they faced in their lives. Casey House had feature stories in 10 countries, with 834 million impressions, and counting.

HIV is an urgent global crisis, and it’s on the rise. Confronting stigma has never been more necessary. According to UNAIDS, in 2016, there were 36.7 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS. In the same year 1.8 million people became newly infected with HIV.