LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A couple of radio personalities are participating in a 12-week campaign to address the rise in overdose deaths in Black communities. While overdose deaths in Kentucky decreased by almost 10% from 2022 to 2023, among Black Kentuckians, there was a 5% increase, according to the 2023 Drug Overdose Fatality Report.

What You Need To Know

  •  Even though Kentucky saw an overall decrease in overdose deaths in 2023, there was a 5% increase in Black communities

  • Vital Strategies have partnered with radio personalities for a campaign to inform listeners and point them to resources
  • Bella Rae, an on-air personality at B96.5, is one of the radio hosts participating in the campaign

  • VOCAL-KY is a site that listeners are being told about that gives out naloxone and fentanyl test strips

The rise in overdose deaths in Black communities has advocates and community members concerned. That’s why the global public health organization Vital Strategies has brought a radio campaign to Louisville. Its purpose is to, “outline the problem, explain to you what the problem is and then provide you the resources that you can use and where you can get those resources,” said Gloria Malone, the senior manager of multimedia and digital strategies for the overdose prevention program at Vital Strategies.

B96.5’s on-air personality Bella Rae is one of the radio hosts who is taking part in the campaign. Having been born and raised in Louisville, she is passionate about issues that impact the community, and is particularly concerned about the impact the opioid crisis has had on Black communities.

“We have to get the word out on overdoses and they are preventative,” Bella Rae said.

Her role with the campaign is to read out scripts that inform listeners about the issue and direct them to resources like Kentucky’s online naloxone access portal or local nonprofits, like VOCAL-KY, that give out naloxone and fentanyl test strips.

“We’re excited to be a part of this overdose campaign as a site where people, when they hear that radio show, they could come here and get the supplies they need,” said Louisville Metro council member Shameka Parrish-Wright, District 3, who is also the executive director of VOCAL-KY.

A Journal of the American Medical Association Health Forum survey found 32% of respondents know someone who has died from an overdose. Bella Rae has experience with this firsthand. Her best friend’s brother died of an overdose in Dec. 2023.

“It was something that was totally unexpected so her being able to push this and put this out in the forefront to where, you know, maybe this won’t happen to somebody else’s family, that means a lot to me,” Brock said.

The campaign began on Aug. 5. While it’s supposed to run for 12 weeks, Bella Rae hopes to make it longer.

Vital Strategies have worked with radio personalities to launch similar campaigns in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners. This message reached more than 80% of Black adults in Philadelphia, according to Vital Strategies. In Milwaukee, it reached around 90% of Black adults.

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