Mental wellness campaign encourages kindness, acceptance, culture, and compassion
By Rick Garrick
TORONTO– The Soar Above Stigma campaign was recently launched to champion messages of Kindness, Acceptance, Culture, and Compassion by the First Peoples Wellness Circle, Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, and First Nations Health Managers Association in partnership with NationTalk.
“One in three Indigenous people face mental wellness issues, and we lack the support to ease this issue. So, coming down to the essence of Soar Above Stigma, it aims to provide any of our kinship, aunties, uncles, cousins, anyone who is suffering from addictions, mental health or any COVID-related matters a space to see they are not alone in their nation, in their community,” says Marion Crowe, CEO at First Nations Health Managers Association. “We want to provide some outreach and support and stigma education for Indigenous community members.”
The campaign was created to ease the tension of stigma due to fears surrounding COVID-19 as well as escalating mental health issues and substance abuse due to addictions, and it aims to propel the Indigenous values of hope, belonging, meaning and purpose through the sharing of Indigenous voices and perspectives.
“By supporting our nations and looking towards our traditional teachings, our land-based healing, we hope to put an end to the stigma of talking openly about these issues,” Crowe says. “As Indigenous health organizations, we’ve identified that stigma is a leading concern amid COVID-19, so we’re wanting to engage communities and individuals about the stigma of being COVID-positive and some of the fears around testing positive. Let’s not judge each other, not everyone is able to be vaccinated yet so let’s stop shaming those who may have a COVID-19 instance or the stigma surrounding mental health issues and [their] escalation during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether they can’t get to work, they’re feeling depressed or [anxious], the stigma of addictions and people who use drugs or turning to drugs as a way of coping.”
Crowe encourages people to visit the Soar Above Stigma website at soarabovestigma.com or the Soar Above Stigma social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, and to “spread some good medicine around; those medicines of Kindness, Compassion, Culture and Acceptance.”
“So if you have a story that you feel open to sharing, send out a tweet and use the hashtag #SoarAboveStigma,” Crowe says. “Let’s empower and embody our values and empower our people by Soaring Above Stigma. So, say you were quarantining and somebody was so kind enough to drop off groceries during your quarantine, let’s tweet about that. If you know somebody who is facing some challenges, check in on them, use the hashtag #SoarAboveStigma. Let’s do our best to come out of this intact and thriving at the other end of COVID-19.”
Crowe says four individuals are profiled on the Soar Above Stigma platforms with their comments on Kindness, Compassion, Culture and Acceptance.
“There’s little video vignettes that you don’t want to miss,” Crowe says. “And stay tuned to all of our Indigenous media partners because we even have some commercials coming out — we’re so very excited about that too.”
Crowe says there has been an “amazing uptake” from people across Turtle Island.
“There are individuals all across Canada and in the U.S. who really resonate with this media campaign because they’re simple acts of kindness that we as Indigenous people expect every day,” Crowe says. “Let’s share this with our non-Indigenous friends, let’s share this with each other and let’s get past stigma in our nations.”