Published: 04/16/2026 | Author: Quentin Blount

Milwaukee County recorded 383 opioid overdose deaths in 2025, the lowest annual total in a decade. It’s a rare and hard-won sign of progress in a city that lost nearly 5,000 people to the overdose epidemic between 2017 and 2025. What changed isn’t a mystery: a small team of firefighters, peer support specialists, and community partners decided to do things differently.

America’s Dairyland features a wide range of programs to battle opioid overdose, and for many residents in Milwaukee, hope often starts with community members and families. And that’s where change started from the ground up.

Milwaukee’s Opioid Crisis by the Numbers

The 383 fatal overdoses in 2025 represent Milwaukee County’s lowest number since 2016. That figure marks a dramatic reversal from the epidemic’s peak. From 2017 to 2025, nearly 4,600 people died due to drug overdoses across Milwaukee County. In 2022 alone, the county witnessed 674 fatal overdose deaths, fueled by widespread opioids, heroin, and other substances with fentanyl. 

But then the numbers took an abrupt course. Fatality rates fell 30% in 2024, followed by a sharp  drop in 2025, about a 50% decline over three years. Milwaukee’s decrease mirrors a nationwide trend tied to expanded treatment access, increased harm reduction efforts, and a shrinking fentanyl supply chain. 

What’s Driving the Change in Opioid Addiction Deaths

The centerpiece of Milwaukee’s turnaround is the Milwaukee Overdose Response Initiative (MORI), a program built from scratch inside the city’s fire department. The team began by using the fire department’s access to 911 call data to identify people who survived an overdose within the last 24 to 48 hours, then went out to find those people and offer whatever help they needed.

That help was deliberately broad. “Help” didn’t necessarily mean pressuring someone into rehab, although the team connected people with treatment programs. It could mean getting someone clothes, food, naloxone and other harm reduction supplies, along with compassionate and nonjudgmental support.

The model was intentionally personal. Team members sat down for conversations, not interrogations. They dropped off birthday cupcakes at homeless encampments, gave people rides to psychiatric appointments, and helped families process the loss of loved ones. 

Peer support specialist Amy Molinski, who joined the team through a medication-assisted treatment clinic, brought her own recovery experience to the work. Her presence helped overdose survivors feel met with dignity rather than shame. “When overdose survivors get greeted by someone in a uniform that doesn’t judge them, tries to take the shame out of what they’re doing and say ‘your life is worth saving’ — that means a lot,” Molinski noted.

Battling Fentanyl

Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid now found contaminating virtually every street drug supply, drove the surge that killed hundreds of Milwaukeeans annually at the height of the crisis. Its extreme potency—roughly 50-100x stronger than morphine—means that even a small, invisible quantity mixed into other drugs can cause a fatal overdose in seconds. Fentanyl is the leading driver of opioid overdose deaths nationally and locally.

Wisconsin legalized fentanyl and xylazine test strips, allowing people to check drugs for dangerous substances before use. This harm reduction measure is credited as a meaningful intervention. Knowing what’s in a substance doesn’t eliminate risk, but it can save a life.

Also on the front lines against opioids is Narcan, the nasal spray medication used to reverse an opioid overdose. It’s now found in Milwaukee bars, stores, and other public spaces, usually through free vending machines. Fire Lt. Jonathan Belott, MORI’s project manager, put it plainly: “Keep that Narcan flowing out there.”

The Milwaukee Overdose Response Initiative distributes “Hope Kits”—small pouches stocked with Narcan, fentanyl and xylazine test strips, and contact information for treatment centers, therapy, and groups like Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous. Every single frontline firefighter is equipped with Hope Kits.

Peer Recovery and Finding Help for Opioid Addiction

Milwaukee’s model worked in part because it paired clinical resources with lived experience. Molinski, who battled her own heroin addiction before entering the peer support field, described how disconnection led her in; connection and hope brought her out. “My life was worth saving,” she recalled.

That message is exactly what Narcotics Anonymous meeting communities offer: spaces where people who have experienced narcotic addiction firsthand can share recovery with those still in its grip. NA meetings across Wisconsin are free, open to all, and require no commitment beyond showing up.
Narcotics Anonymous holds meetings throughout the Milwaukee metro area and throughout the entire state. To find a meeting near you, browse our comprehensive directory or call 800-934-1582(Sponsored) today.