Milwaukee leaders come together to honor the lives lost to overdose

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Today, Aug. 30, community and county leaders in Milwaukee came together to bring attention to drug overdoses. 

Sunday is Overdose Awareness Day and to mark the somber occasion, Serenity Inns hosted an event to honor the lives that have been lost to drugs. 

It featured testimonies of families impacted by addiction, experts speaking about grief and free Narcan kits and the onsite training to use it. 

Ultimately, organizers say days like these are meant to be about hope more than loss.

 "I see the men's eyes when they come into the program," said CEO of Serenity Inns Kenneth Ginlack. "I see their eyes as they continue to program. And then I see the hope come back. I see the life comeback."

There was a ballon release at the end of today's event to honor the lives lost to addiction.