Support Not Stigma (SNS) is an initiative to help the public better understand the lives of people who use substances and experience significant mental health challenges
Philosophically, the Support Not Stigma (SNS) initiative is about restorative social justice for people in our communities who use substances. Stigma makes it hard to see someone clearly. These are people who matter – fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends, loves. They deserve our empathy, but people suffer in silence. SNS gives them voice.
Historically, the initiative was informed by the Integrated Care Hub Kingston’s 2021 Needs Assessment with support from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP). The initiative has produced three tools to help build understanding around a) how substance use is impacting people we love, b) what drives substance use in our society, and c) the heroic efforts of harm reduction workers who are trying to help on the front lines of the drug toxicity crisis.
