MILWAUKEE — As National Recovery Month ends, Milwaukee County confronts one of the nation's deadliest opioid crises, with older Black men dying at disproportionate rates. A community-driven initiative called FOCUS is changing how the city approaches addiction recovery by putting lived experiences at the center of solutions.
For decades, the opioid epidemic has been told through numbers. But in Milwaukee, those numbers hide a deeper truth that hits hard in Black and Brown communities. Recent data shows older Black men are dying at disproportionate rates nationwide, and Milwaukee County data reveal the local crisis is accelerating.
In 2024, 74 older Black men died from overdoses in Milwaukee County alone, making up more than 17% of the county's overdose deaths. Many of these deaths are tied to fentanyl-laced cocaine, according to Wisconsin Watch and NNS data from the Milwaukee Medical Examiner.
FOCUS, which stands for Featuring Our Community's Untold Stories, represents an effort to place lived experience on the front line of addiction recovery.
FOCUS is a community-powered initiative centering Black and Brown voices in Milwaukee County. Using a Community-Based Participatory Evaluation (CBPE) approach, listening to people with lived and living experience of drug use to reshape how to address the opioid crisis, elevate healing, and drive action.
"It's time to hear what the community has to say about the impact of drugs," said Africa Lucas, Health Prevention Coordinator.
"A lot of times, the issues around drugs are talked about, but the individuals it affects the most are not talked to," Lucas said.
Nationally, CDC data show older Black men born between 1951 and 1970 are dying at disproportionate rates from overdoses.
Otis Winston, a recovering veteran who now works as a peer support specialist, wants to change the conversation by sharing his story.
"In the Black community, that's not something we wanna be talking about, although we should," Winston said.
Watch: Milwaukee area advocates focus on new approach to opioid crisis recovery
"Our community needs options. If you and I talk and I have an impact and you have an impact on me, it's gonna spread. My lived experience allows you to share yours, and it keeps going," Winston said.
Health Advocate and founder of InPower, Aziz Abdulah, is recording these stories as part of the FOCUS initiative.
"I think it's really important we start to normalize conversations of our struggle in ways that come from a space of being victorious and conquerors instead of being victims of our circumstances," Abdulah said.
InPower is a Milwaukee-based, community-driven firm that specializes in public health research, participatory evaluation, harm reduction strategy, and culturally responsive campaign development/ Rooted in lived experience and systems change, we work at the intersection of public health, community engagement, and strategy communication to drive real impact in historically marginalized communities.
FOCUS hopes to break the cycle by elevating personal stories, reducing stigma, and using real-time data to shape equity-centered solutions.
"The information that comes from these stories is directly going to inform the county strategy around programming and messaging, so they will live in the narrative you see coming out of the county, around opioid prevention, specifically for black and brown communities," Abdulah said.
The initiative represents a new chapter in recovery, one where voices long overlooked are guiding the way to healing and hope.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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