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…