“It was during the summer of 2017. It was super hot outside, and we were dispatched to an apartment complex. A male was in a car and wasn’t breathing. I was the first to arrive in a line of squad cars....
The video showed grainy black and white images of a lifeless body lying on the ground as semi-trucks and motorists passed by. White clouds of condensation blew from the officers’ mouths as they moved...
Pain and addiction
“What happened to Montee Ball? That is the million-dollar question. That is the question I saw on Google, on Twitter, all the time. I was so anxious to go out and to talk to people,...
Just a day in the life
Jenna Washuleski is in her element. Despite the chaos of kids running around at the Boys and Girls Club of Oshkosh, she glides in with a special guest for a H.O.P.E. Group —...
As told to Joseph Schulz
“What led me to drugs was losing my kids — the pain of it. I was like, ‘Well, I tried pot and I didn't get addicted. I tried acid and I didn't get addicted. Why would...
As told to Gabrielle Fischer
Pain and addiction
“My mother was a heroin addict. When I was 7, she dropped me off at a place called the Friendship House in Pennsylvania. It was supposed to be for the...
A Tumultuous Childhood
At 6 years old, most children are experiencing a lot of firsts, whether it’s their first time losing a tooth, their first grade on an assignment, or their first sleepover....
Myron Batiste shook his head and laughed at the mugshot showing a sullen man with dead eyes, staring into the void. Wearing his best shirt and tie, Myron was laughing because he is no longer the...
Pain and addiction
“When my first daughter was 2, I got addicted to opioids. I had never done them before, but then I broke a bone in my foot and I got a kidney infection in the same three-month...
"I started [working as a judge] in January of 2004 and I quickly learned that the majority of the people that came in front of me were here with drug and alcohol-related issues, so I knew there was...
