Douglas College students Kate Hunt and Jessica Hewitt would like you to know three things:
No one chooses to become an addict.
Addiction can happen to anyone.
And people dealing with addiction deserve dignity and respect.
These statements might seem obvious to anyone working in health or social services but for the majority of people, addiction is still a scary thing and people who are addicts stare up from the bottom of the social ladder.
Hewitt and Hunt would like to change these attitudes, at least in the Tri-Cities, and they might get a chance to do so if their Three Things campaign gets an official nod.
The students' campaign was part of a portfolio show for the Print Futures program at Douglas College's New Westminster campus. It includes bus shelter ads, a website, postcards and newspaper ads, all with the aim of raising awareness about addiction.
"The hope is changing the lens of addiction as well as impressions of homelessness because the two issues are intertwined," explained Hunt, who is graduating from the Print Futures program along with Hewitt this spring.
The two developed their campaign as part of a real-world project organized by their teacher, Brooke Carter, at the request of the Tri-Cities Homelessness Task Group and the addictions/mental health subcommittee.
Sandy Burpee, who chairs the Tri-City group, said an awareness campaign is long overdue so the college was approached for help.
"We were impressed... this is the direction we'd like to take," Burpee said of Hunt and Hewitt's Three Things campaign. Other students' work might also be included in the campaign.
For their Three Things project, Hunt and Hewitt developed a bus shelter ad that shows three faces of addicts, including a stereotypical one of an older person, a businessman and a soccer mom. They also created a poster that depicts seatbelts and tooth brushing as forms of harm-reduction along with a mat program for homeless people.
Keeping people safe - even if they are addicts - is a worthy endeavour, Hunt and Hewitt say.
"We are not looking for people to drop everything and donate to the cause," Hunt said. "It's about understanding and reducing stigma."
Fraser Health has been approached for funding, with the hope a final campaign will be approved and a website up by October in time for Homelessness Action Week. Burpee is hopeful the awareness campaign will be ready by fall, adding the messages are "in line with what Fraser Health would like to put out."
