Casey House is trying to get rid of myths and stigma towards people living with HIV.
The hospital and support service for people with HIV/AIDs in Toronto (the only one of its kind in Canada and that was founded in 1988) is ramping up its Casey’s Break Bread Smash Stigma campaign.
And how are they doing that? By opening up a pop-up restaurant called June’s HIV+ Eatery where everything is handled by HIV-positive people.
Matt Basile, a chef from Toronto, and 14 cooks helped to train the staff at the restaurant and to make the menu.
To this day, some people may still have a stigma towards sharing food with people who are HIV+ or eat food prepared by the same people.
Casey House wants to dispel the myth that contamination of food or surfaces is a big risk and have decided to open up this restaurant to do that. The idea is exposure and experience in order to get rid of doubt.
The Eatery, named after Casey House’s founder June Callwood, will only run for two days though and unfortunately is already sold out.
That said, donations are still being accepted to support both the ongoing campaign and the organization.
