'Normalize the conversation': Samad's House, Milwaukee County team up to fight drug addiction, overdoses

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Children ran up and down N. 27th St. off of W. Locust on Saturday, Oct. 29, gathering candy and snacking on caramel apples.

However, it wasn't your typical Halloween weekend scene. Instead, booths lined the street, offering not only sweet treats to anyone who stopped by, but pamphlets listing local resources for drug addiction and overdose help.

Samad's House, a local drug addiction treatment center for women, partnered with Milwaukee County to host their first "Cope 'N' Trunk," an event meant to raise awareness and highlight a seemingly never-ending problem in the community. 

According to the Milwaukee County's overdose dashboard, as of Oct. 4, in 2022, there have been 387 confirmed fatal overdoses in the area.

2021 saw a total of 615 confirmed fatal overdoses in Milwaukee County. 

HAPPENING NOW: A “Cope n Trunk” event hosted by Samad’s House and Milwaukee County to raise awareness on drug addiction/overdoses and to provide resources like fentanyl strips and Narcan to reduce the number of fatal overdoses in #Wisconsin. @CBS58pic.twitter.com/tyfTDj7DSl

— Ellie Nakamoto-White (@ellienw_news) October 29, 2022

"We have to put foot to the pavement because we are losing people," said Tahira Malik, the founder and COO of Samad's House. "[This event] is to bring awareness to what's going on and to make people feel comfortable. To let them know we'll meet you where you're at. We're not judging you."

Eventgoers also received "healing kits" with shirts, journals, fentanyl test strips, and Narcan, which is used to quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

"You never know when you're going to run up on somebody who may need it to save their life," said Melody Williams, a state certified Narcan trainer at Community Medical Service. "Some of the signs may be they're unresponsive, their skin is clammy. Their breathing sounds like they're snoring."

Williams said if you come across someone who might be overdosing, the first thing you should do is call 911 before attempting to get a response from the person.

"Usually you'll take your knuckle, and kind of press [to their chest] firmly," Williams said. "If they don't respond, that's when you'll take [Narcan] out and squirt it up the first nostril."

If that doesn't prompt any kind of response after two to three minutes, Williams said to take out a second dose and apply it to their other nostril.

Jeremy Triblett, a prevention manager with Milwaukee County's Behavioral Health Division, said it's igniting this conversation that will lead to results.

"At the county of Milwaukee, we're excited partners because we know we want to trust the people on the ground doing the work in the community," Triblett said. "Normalize the conversation. Decrease the stigma. Most importantly, increase the resources that they have."

Malik added that she originally started Samad's House after seeing a need in the community.

"We're here to help. We're here to save their lives," Malik said. "So many people who weren't ready for help yet, cried in my arms and said, 'when I'm ready, I'll come to you.' We are all in this together and we're going to fight this together."

Cope 'N' Trunk marked the first in a series of monthly "coping cafe's" led by Samad's House called "Coping through the Holidays." For more information, click here.