Our Courage Over Stigma Campaign

The Courage Center launched the #CourageOverStigma campaign in 2021 to provide public education about the diseases of opioid use and substance use  in an effort to reduce stigma, and promote the hope that lives in recovery. The campaign rolled out targeting six “hotspots” of suspected overdoses in Lexington County, including Cayce-West Columbia, Gaston, Irmo, Red Bank, South Congaree, and Swansea.

The first phase of the campaign was made possible through funding from SC Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS). The second phase of the campaign, which runs though 2024, is being made possible by funding from SAMHSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to The Courage Center under award number 6H79TI083795-01M007.

The perception that addiction is a moral failing, versus the fact that it is a chronic brain disease, continues to be a significant barrier for individuals who know they need help to get well. The #CourageOverStigma campaign reminds individuals, families, and the wider community that they are not alone and that we are all, individually and as a community, greater than addiction.

"Everything changed when we decided to stop hiding from the reality that our family was facing addiction,” said Lori Porter, a peer recovery support specialist with The Courage Center and mother of a son in recovery. “It was time to stop being ashamed and afraid, and time to speak up and ask for help. That decision changed everything for us and put us on a path to recovery. We also realized there were more families just like us who were suffering in silence.”

The videos on this page highlight South Carolinians sharing their stories about hope in recovery. They were created as part of the second phase of the anti-stigma campaign in partnership with The Pierson Collective. This phase of the campaign also resulted our documentary "Recovery Reframed". To view the documentary and learn more about the hope in recovery, click here.