Milo is a lot like other Maine towns — a close-knit, rural community where people know each other, care about each other, and try to work together to make their community better.
Known as the “Town of Three Rivers,” Milo represents much of what makes rural Maine such a special place to live, not only in how its citizens treat each other, but how they come together in the face of adversity.
I was fortunate to recently visit Milo, where I had the opportunity to learn about how the community is coming together to support one another in the face of a problem that is confronting cities and towns across the state — the opioid and heroin epidemic.
To be frank, of all the challenges I’ve seen facing Maine over the years, this problem is certainly one of the most difficult. And it’s a problem that has been particularly painful in rural areas, where critical treatment options can be fewer and more difficult to reach for those who need them.
Maine saw a record number of overdose deaths last year, more than one a day, and over the past several years, the town of Milo has felt that pain too. Since 2011, this small town has seen more than a dozen heroin overdoses.
These tragic numbers are the driving reason why, for the last two years, I’ve been working so hard to understand this crisis and identify potential solutions, and that search for answers has taken me across the state and allowed me to meet with hundreds of people — from law enforcement officials and first-responders, to people in recovery, to people struggling with addiction, to medical professionals who assist those fighting addiction.
And last week, it brought me to the Police Department office in Milo where I spoke with Police Chief and Interim Town Manager Damien Pickel, along with local volunteers and health care providers, about their innovative approach to deal with addiction at the local level.
Because Milo, like so many Maine towns, has faced these challenges first-hand, they have had to come together as a community to respond. And that inspiring response is something we can learn from across the state. In order to combat the opioid crisis, Chief Pickel has helped institute a program that pairs community volunteers with treatment facilities and rehabilitation programs to help those struggling with addiction obtain the support they need.
Community-based support groups help people struggling with addiction get information about treatment options in a judgment-free zone, and the donation program based out of the police department that provides supplies — like blankets, hats and mittens — sends a message that the department is here to help.
The innovative and impressive initiative led by the Milo Police Department is a positive step forward in the battle of addiction that helps support people who are struggling, and keeps members of the community informed and engaged. I hope its success can serve as a model for other Maine towns to replicate, because this type of collaboration between law enforcement and health care professionals is exactly what we need to turn the tide and help communities deal with addiction.
Ultimately, it’s the on-the-ground efforts like those I saw in Milo that are helping to save lives. And never before have these efforts been more important. While this problem is of a scope that we have never seen before, it’s programs like these — driven by people like Chief Pickel and others throughout the community — that help give me hope that, together, we can beat this epidemic and save lives.
I will continue to do all I can in the Senate to fight for the resources that will help do so — and in the meantime, let’s continue to support one another and work together neighbor to neighbor and town to town; that’s the Maine way and I’m proud to be a part of it.
