Perspectives in a City Plagued with Overdose Deaths

THERE IS A SOLUTION? –

May 30, 2023 – Joining MORI took Molinski out of the office, where she most often worked with patients, and into their lives. “My experience with patients in the past had been in an office,” Molinski tells Wisconsin Examiner. “And while they may describe to you what their life is like outside, you only create a picture … I think our minds only create a picture that is easy to tolerate.”

The Milwaukee Overdose Response Initiative operates as a grant-funded partnership between the Milwaukee Health Department, Milwaukee Fire Department, community organizations, and treatment centers including CMS, with the goal of connecting surviving overdose victims with treatment. Milwaukee fire Capt. Dave Polachowski explains that MORI began with two fire department members, joined by a peer support specialist, spending four hours a day driving around in a car together, visiting survivors and their loved ones. “Now we’ve went from that one car for four hours, to two cars at seven hours a day,” Polachowski says. The program also offers services to families who’ve lost a loved one to an overdose.