Casey House

Casey House

When HIV reached epidemic proportion over three decades ago, there was mass hysteria. Educated, highly skilled medical professionals were bringing HIV+ patients to Casey House, Canada’s first and only hospital for HIV+ people, in full hazmat suits. Casey House founder June Callwood accepted these patients with open arms, and treated them with decency, humanity and respect. She made it her mission to help smash the hurtful, misguided stigma that surrounded HIV and since 2018, we’ve been doing the same.  

In partnership with our sister agencies Bensimon Byrne and OneMethod, we’ve created multiple integrated campaigns that have positioned Casey House as the leader of progressive HIV+ conversations, worldwide. In 2018, we launched June’s, the world’s first-ever HIV-positive eatery, where all 14 chefs were HIV+. In 2019, we opened Healing House, the world’s first HIV+ spa. Both campaigns tackled the most prevalent misconceptions surrounding HIV: transmission via food and touch.  

In year three and four, we took a different tack, turning the camera on the depictions of HIV+ – or lack thereof – in popular culture and film. In Losing Friends and The Toxic Office, we re-shot episodes featuring beloved characters from the world’s two most streamed shows, Friends and The Office, living with HIV+. In The Others – a feature film which debuted in 2022 – the first openly HIV+ actor was cast to portray the social isolation and fear that many HIV+ patients experience daily, through a horror film.