August 2026 Newsletter

Recent overdose death numbers paint a picture of progress. Drug overdose fatalities are falling — across the country and across Milwaukee. But sit with Tahira Malik for a few minutes, and she’ll tell you the number that doesn’t get a headline: the decline is barely reaching the neighborhoods that need it most.

“Today, we are pleased to acknowledge that the overall number of overdose deaths is dropping in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and across the nation,” Malik says at the top of the latest episode of her podcast, Voices of the Front Lines. Then comes the turn. “But the decline is not as sharp in Black and Brown communities. Drug overdose deaths continue to ravage our families and our communities.”

In Episode 2 of the podcast, Malik, founder of the Milwaukee women’s sober living residence Samad’s House, gathers three women who spend their days on the front lines of the overdose crisis. Together, they announce the launch of the Midwest Regional Black and Brown Harm Reduction Network, a coalition built to protect hard-won progress and carry it into the communities being left behind.

The conversation that unfolds is candid, personal, sometimes angry, and often hopeful. And by the end, it lands on three words that double as a mission statement: harm reduction is hope.